ANTIOCH — A local resident has been sentenced to 21 years in state prison as part of a plea deal for killing her next-door neighbor, when both she and her victim were dating the same man.
Serico Justice, 39, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 27, 2022 shooting death of 31-year-old Hannisha Willis. In exchange, Justice was sentenced to 21 years in state prison, followed by a probation term.
Willis was fatally shot on Mandarin Way in Antioch, where she lived next door to Justice. Police said at the time that Justice was the one who called 911, claimed that the shooting was an accident, and appeared “visibly upset” when officers arrived to find her in the front yard.
With Willis dead from a gunshot wound on the front lawn, Justice claimed that Willis had been “harassing” her for sometime and that it culminated with a verbal dispute and shooting in their front yards. Police soon learned the motive: Both women had been dating the same man, who was also living on the block and would sneak back and forth to visit Justice and Willis.
Justice claimed that as they were arguing, Willis punched her. Justice, who was carrying a gun, said she swung her arm to strike Willis, but that the firearm “accidentally” went off, striking Willis in the head. Justice placed the pistol in the trunk of her car and called police. She was arrested and charged with murder thereafter, court records show.
Antioch police were forced to re-do some of the investigative work when one of the detectives, Robert Gerber, was placed on administrative leave over alleged involvement in the city’s far-reaching scandal of racist, homophobic and sexist text communications between officers.
A report compiled by a Contra Costa District Attorney investigator said Gerber responded “hell yeah,” when another officer talked about how he couldn’t wait to use a less-lethal projectile gun on a group of alleged Oakland gang members they were planning to arrest in coming days. Dozens of officers were investigated, most of whom were allowed to return to their jobs.
Justice was transferred to prison on Oct. 17 and is at a women’s prison in Chowchilla, records show. She received credit for the time she spent in jail between her December 2022 arrest and the finalization of the plea deal last fall.
