One of the two men arrested in connection with the murder of Alameda resident Donald Stanifer was freed from jail last month after an Alameda County Superior Court judge withdrew the suspect's murder charge.

According to a Mercury News report, Marquise Johnson-Simon, 23, of Oakland, had his murder charge reduced to accessory after the fact by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon at an Aug. 12 hearing. Another judge, Morris Jacobson, subsequently approved Johnson-Simon’s release from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with electronic monitoring at a Sept. 7 hearing.

Johnson-Simon was one of two men originally charged with murder for the fatal stabbing of Stanifer after a party on July 5, 2020 (“Missing Alamedan Found Dead,” July 16; https://alamedasun.com/news/missing-alamedan-found-dead). He, along with his co-defendant Elijah Jordan-Brooks, 22, of Pittsburg, were arrested in May 2021 (“Murder Suspects Captured,” May 19, 2021; https://alamedasun.com/news/murder-suspects-captured).

After a year-long delay, Alameda County Judge Mark McCannon ruled in June of this year there was enough evidence to charge the two men for murder. According to reports, Jordan-Brooks and Johnson-Simon were linked to the homicide through GPS signals on their phones, placing them in the area where Stanifer’s body was found, as well as nearby surveillance video. Also, DNA under Stanifer’s shirt was linked to Johnson-Simon.

However, at the Aug. 12 hearing, Johnson-Simon’s attorney successfully argued that the DNA under Stanifer’s shirt only proves he was at the scene of the crime but was not enough evidence to prove he was involved in the actual killing.

Prosecutors were able to obtain a video Jordan-Brooks recorded on his cell phone that showed Stanifer’s lifeless and bloody body inside a vehicle. Jordan-Brooks showed a friend the video, who then informed police while being interrogated.

The body of Donald Stanifer was discovered at Huckleberry Botanical Regional Preserve in Oakland on July 12, 2020. His body was found a week after he was reported missing. Authorities believe robbery was the motive of the killing. Police also stated that Stanifer was an acquaintance of both Johnson-Simon and Jordan-Brooks.

Jordan-Brooks remains in Santa Rita Jail on no bond, according to the Alameda County Inmate Locator database. His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1.