After judge rejected plea deal, Oakland man gets 13 years for 2018 killing

OAKLAND — The defendant in a years-old murder case was sentenced to 13 years, more than double the amount of time that prosecutors had initially sought to impose in a plea deal that a judge rejected.

Bryon Revels, 32, was formally sentenced on Christmas Eve and transferred to North Kern State Prison on Jan. 7, court records show. He pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the 2018 killing of 22-year-old Donald Smith Jr., and prosecutors dropped a murder charge in return. Revels had originally arranged to be sentenced to six years he already served, but in April 2025 a judge rejected that deal, citing concerns over “public safety.”

Prosecutors allege that Revels shot and killed Smith on New Year’s Eve 2018, on the 8800 block of International Boulevard in Oakland. He was arrested four months later after being identified by witnesses and electronic surveillance, according to court records.

The original six-year deal angered Smith’s family, who intended to speak out publicly before Alameda County Judge Kimberly Colwell outright rejected it. That sent Revels’ lawyer and prosecutors back to the negotiating table, where they came up with the 13-year deal last November, court records show.

At Revels’ Nov. 20 change of plea hearing, Deputy District Attorney Marisa Tagliareni said Smith’s family was against the new deal too.

“They are not satisfied,” she said.