Murder charges have been filed against 27-year-old Cedric Irving Jr., a former high school football player in Oakland, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday Nov. 17.
If convicted, Irving could serve 50 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s office.
CNN reported Irving being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Irving was arrested at a commuter rail station just after 3 a.m. Friday while carrying the firearm used to shoot Beam and admitted to the shooting, CNN reported, citing the probable cause document.
The District Attorney’s office said Irving has no criminal record, according to multiple published reports.
Beam, who was the current athletic director at Laney College, died early Nov. 14, a day after being shot at the campus field house. Beam, who was 66, also had coached football at Laney.
Beam and the team he coached at Laney College were featured in the fifth season of the Netflix ‘Last Chance U’ documentary series, which was released in 2020. The show chronicled Laney’s 2019 season after it won the 2018 junior college championship.
“On behalf of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, and my personal family, I wish to express our deepest condolences to Coach John Beam’s family,’’ District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson. “Coach Beam represents the best of Oakland. Just as Coach Beam’s love for community has been felt for decades, so will his loss.”
Beam retired as Laney’s head coach in 2024 to focus on his role as athletic director. He had coached in Oakland for more than 40 years.
The District Attorney also announced mandatory minimums for illegal possession of a firearm.
“There must be more accountability,’’ Jones Dickson said. “We will be instituting mandatory minimum sentences for individuals who illegally possess guns. Our schools, students, and teachers need to thrive in a safe gun-free environment. I believe that this will be an important step in that direction to make Oakland and Alameda County safer.”
