2 arrested in Pleasant Hill homicide after high speed chase through Arizona

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. (KTVU) - Two suspects were arrested in connection with a murder at a Pleasant Hill home in what appears to be a botched marijuana deal. 

According to Pleasant Hill Police, early in the investigation Pleasant Hill Police detectives identified 24-year-old Luther Lee, of Columbus Georgia, as an accessory in the planned marijuana deal that ended in the robbery and shooting death of 23-year-old Oshry Elor on Saturday.

On Monday detectives learned Lee was traveling through Arizona on Interstate 20. Detectives reached out to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and troopers were able to locate Lee. 

During a traffic stop Lee was arrested on an outstanding warrant previously obtained by Pleasant Hill Police detectives. During the traffic stop, Lee along with two others got out of the vehicle. The driver, 29-year-old Keith Jones of Cusseta, Georgia, left the scene in the car. Troopers pursued Jones for about 90 miles and reached speeds over 120 mph before they were able to stop the vehicle and take him into custody. Pleasant Hill Police then identified Jones as the shooter in the death of Elor. The two other people in the vehicle were released from custody. 

Several people called police around 11 p.m. Saturday to report hearing multiple gunshots near a home on Norse and Viking drives, not far from Diablo Valley College.

When police arrived, they found a man, Elor, suffering from gunshot wounds. Cprl. Christopher Anderson said that the man was alive at the time and told police what the alleged shooter had said before the gun went off: “The suspect made several statements to the victim, regarding or targeting marijuana... and it was a robbery,” Anderson recalled of the conversation. 

The man, later identified as Elor, ultimately died from his injuries, police said.

Police would not say if the shooter and the victim knew each other. 

Neighbors have long suspected drug activity inside this suburban looking home.

“We knew what was going on,” said a neighbor who only wanted to be identified as Vicky, who added that she often saw “ little baggies of marijuana in their yard.”

It was the city's first homicide since 2012.