Willie McCoy’s sister killed in Vallejo shooting, crash

VALLEJO – Willie McCoy’s oldest sister was killed when she was thrown from an overturned SUV while fleeing gunfire in central Vallejo on Tuesday, according to police radio traffic, social media posts and the family’s attorney.

The crash that killed 48-year-old Sharmell Mitchell happened at about 12:35 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Vervais Avenue and Tennessee Street, according to police radio traffic. Initial reports indicated that Mitchell had been ejected from the SUV after it crashed into two other vehicles while fleeing a fourth car whose occupants were shooting at them.

Mitchell suffered a head wound in the crash and was taken to Kaiser hospital in Vallejo, where she died two days later. 

Melissa Nold, an attorney for Mitchell’s family, said that it appears that the unidentified driver of the white SUV had clipped another car nearby. The occupants of the other car, angry over the accident, chased and shot at the SUV, where Mitchell was a passenger. 

After the crash, the car shooting at the SUV fled north on Vervais Avenue, according to radio traffic. Police searched for the car but did not find it. Vallejo police did not respond to a request for more information.

Mitchell’s brother, McCoy, was shot and killed by Vallejo police in 2019 when he was found unresponsive in a Taco Bell drive-thru, allegedly with a gun on his lap. Six officers fired 55 times at McCoy through the windows of his car. The family received a $5 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit earlier this year.

Mitchell often appeared at rallies or spoke about the shooting in media reports. She criticized the police during a vigil last year for not trying harder to get into the car as one of his windows was already broken.

“My baby brother's window was already shattered. It was gone. It was a piece of plastic on there,” Mitchell said during the vigil. “So they could have just took the plastic off of it and opened the door. They could have just walked him out.”

Mitchell experienced bouts of homelessness throughout her life. In 2016, Mitchell was one of a group of squatters that Vallejo police Officer Hans Williams removed from a home on Sonora Pass Road. After discovering she was pregnant, Williams took her to a clinic and stayed with her. She then named her son in honor of Williams.

Since Mitchell died on Thursday, numerous friends and family posted on Facebook expressing shock and sadness at her death. 

A vigil for Mitchell at the scene of the accident drew more than 100 people on Thursday. But it was interrupted when cars drove by pointing guns at people in the area, according to police radio traffic. Police did not release any further information about the incident.