New details and boost in reward for 2016 West Oakland homicide

The BART Police Department is releasing new information about the killing of 19-year-old Carlos Funez-Romero, who was fatally shot aboard a BART train stopped at the West Oakland Station on January 9, 2016.  The department is also announcing the reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect is being increased from $10,000 to $25,000.

Detectives with the BART Police Department have been following up on multiple leads as well as working closely with partner law enforcement agencies to identify and locate the suspect.  Investigators now believe the suspect has strong ties to the Antioch area and goes by the first name of Matty.  Detectives also believe the name of the suspect’s father is Vic or Victor.

“We are encouraged by the recent progress we’ve been able to make and are fully committed to bringing this suspect to justice,” said BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas. “Homicides very rarely happen on our system, but when they do we will find those responsible as proven by the arrests made in connection with all three homicides we had last year.”

The investigation into the killing of Funez-Romero has remained active for three years.  Chief Rojas in June boosted the effort to find the suspect by assigning an investigator to the case full time.  That’s on top of other BPD resources that have been dedicated to solving this case.

The suspect is a black male who is 6’0” to 6’4” tall.  At the time of the murder he had a bald-shaved/or close-cut hair style, slim build, and was wearing a green hooded jacket with beige, construction-style boots.  Images of the suspect are below.

Before the killing of Mr. Funez-Romero, there had not been a homicide on the BART system since February of 2013.

Anyone with information on this case is strongly urged to immediately call the BART Police Department at 510-464-7040 or the anonymous tip line at 510-464-7011.