Man charged with killing California artist as he worked on mural

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California man accused of shooting an artist to death while the man worked on a mural under a freeway in the Bay Area city of Oakland was charged with murder on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Marquise Holloway, 20, made an initial court appearance on Tuesday, but is slated to enter a plea and have an attorney appointed on Wednesday, according to Micheal O'Connor of the Alameda County District Attorney's office.

Holloway, who was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Stockton, some 70 miles northeast of Oakland, on Friday, is charged in the murder of artist Antonio Ramos on the morning of Sept. 29, O'Connor said.

Prosecutors said the 27-year-old Ramos was shot dead while working on the Oakland Super Heroes Mural Project under the Interstate 580 freeway after Holloway attempted to rob him.

In charging documents provided by the district attorney's office, police said Holloway admitted to the shooting but added that it was accidental and denied trying to rob Ramos.

Ramos suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.

Prosecutors also charged Holloway with five separate robberies spanning from October to September, according to court documents.

The community art piece was a project of the Attitudinal Healing Connection, a West Oakland-based community organization that aims to address violence by engaging area youth in the arts.

Police told reporters at a morning news conference that community tips were crucial in finding and arresting Holloway in connection with the murder.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; editing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Bernard Orr in New York)