According to her own confession to police, Donna Marie Qualls, 54, fatally shot Emmanuel Emmett Christy, 73, while he slept on Thursday, Dec. 3 (“Local Murder Case Looms,” Dec. 10). She then called the Alameda Police Department (APD) and waited at the scene of the murder she had already confessed to.  

“It’s usually doesn’t happen this way,” said APD Lt. Jill Ottaviano. “It’s unusual for the person to commit the crime and then wait for police to show up. Usually we have to go through a long search for suspects.”  

Not only did Qualls wait for police. She had already told APD’s dispatcher what she had done. In his probable cause statement, APD Detective Alex Keden told the court that when Qualls called police she stated that she had shot someone. She later repeated this confession to investigators. 

On Dec. 7, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office charged Qualls with murder and one count of elder or dependent adult abuse. Qualls has now added a new wrinkle to her story. On Monday, Dec. 28, she pled “not guilty” to the charges she faces. 

She is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail and is scheduled back in court to hear pretrial motions on Monday, Jan. 25.