For months, an Oakland family reported threats, broken windows, and harassment from a man illegally occupying the property next door. They contacted police approximately 20 times, obtained a restraining order, and eventually decided to sell their home. On May 1, 2020, the neighbor shot and killed 44-year-old Miles Armstead as he attempted to leave the property.

A New Home in Oakland

In October 2017, Miles and Melina Armstead moved into a house in Oakland, California, with their four children.

The couple had purchased a 1920s Tudor-style home near the intersection of 76th and Ney Avenues. It featured original hardwood floors, a fireplace, and architectural details they hoped to preserve.

Miles worked as a wealth manager at Fremont Bank. Melina worked in fundraising at the University of California, Berkeley.

Their relationship with the neighborhood was initially positive.

Among their neighbors were Walter and Patricia Thomas and their adult son, Jamal Thomas, commonly known as "JT."

The Thomas family rented the house next door. JT had lived there for years and occupied a detached garage behind the property.

The families were friendly. Miles occasionally helped JT, and JT sometimes offered to mow the Armsteads' lawn or assist with other small jobs.

That relationship began changing in 2019.

The Eviction That Started the Conflict

In August 2019, the owner of the property occupied by the Thomas family sold it to a buyer planning to renovate and resell the house.

The new owner evicted the family.

Walter and Patricia Thomas moved out, but their son did not permanently leave.

By October 2019, JT had returned to the property and was living illegally in the detached garage.

Miles informed him that he was trespassing.

According to testimony summarized in a 2026 California appellate court ruling, JT became increasingly frustrated about losing his place to live. His mother later testified that he believed Miles was somehow interfering with his ability to remain in the garage.

There was no established evidence that Miles had caused the eviction.

The Armsteads were simply neighbors who had purchased their own home two years earlier.

Nevertheless, JT increasingly directed his anger toward them.

Thanksgiving 2019: The Harassment Begins

On November 28, 2019, the Armsteads were celebrating Thanksgiving with relatives when someone began repeatedly ringing their doorbell, kicking the front door, and banging on the entrance.

Melina answered.

JT was standing outside, visibly angry. He accused the family of banging on the walls of his garage and complained that their dog was disturbing him.

Miles came to the door and denied the allegations.

JT eventually left.

However, the incident did not end there.

Around 2 a.m. the next morning, someone returned and began ringing the doorbell and banging on the front door again.

Security cameras captured JT at the property.

Over the following weeks, surveillance cameras recorded him returning between five and ten additional times, ringing the doorbell and fleeing.

The family began contacting the Oakland Police Department.

Initially, the incidents involved harassment, intimidation, and repeated unwanted visits. Soon, the behavior became physically dangerous.

Rocks Through the Windows

In December 2019, the Armsteads reported a particularly frightening incident involving a rock thrown through their front window.

According to their subsequent civil lawsuit, shattered glass injured Melina, who was pregnant at the time.

The family accused police of treating the incident as a low-priority matter and failing to take meaningful action against JT.

The harassment continued into 2020.

On February 26, Oakland Police Officer Alex Padilla responded to a confrontation between Miles and JT.

When Padilla arrived, Miles was holding a baseball bat toward JT while the two argued.

Padilla arrested JT on suspicion of making felony threats.

The encounter was recorded on police body-camera footage.

During the arrest, JT made a statement that prosecutors later interpreted as an explicit threat to kill Miles.

The recording became important evidence during the murder trial.

A judge reviewing the recording at reduced speed concluded that JT had said he was going to kill Miles the next time they encountered each other. The defense disputed that interpretation, arguing that his speech was unclear.

The court nevertheless permitted the jury to hear the footage.

JT was released from custody on February 28, two days after his arrest.

Miles subsequently obtained a restraining order.

It did not end the harassment.

Three Attacks in a Single Day

On March 28, 2020, JT attacked the Armsteads' house on three separate occasions, according to testimony later accepted in the criminal proceedings.

The first occurred around 3 p.m.

Melina was in the dining room when a rock smashed through a window.

She looked outside and saw JT standing on the sidewalk before he ran away.

She called 911.

Around 7 p.m., as Melina prepared dinner, she heard banging against the exterior wall.

Looking outside, she saw JT throwing rocks at the house.

One rock, approximately eight inches long, crashed through another window.

Police responded again.

Then, at approximately 11 p.m., while Miles and Melina were cleaning the kitchen, another rock came through the window above the sink.

The repeated incidents transformed ordinary family activities into safety concerns.

Neighbors began watching the area and looking for JT.

The Armsteads also tried to protect themselves by securing the property.

According to their lawsuit, police were contacted approximately 20 times during the escalating conflict. The family alleged that officers repeatedly minimized the danger and did not adequately address JT's behavior.

The Brick That Finally Drove the Family Away

On April 6, 2020, Miles was sitting at the dining room table working on his laptop.

A red brick suddenly came through the window.

It passed close to his head before striking his computer.

Melina ran toward the front of the house and saw JT outside.

Another neighbor, Matthew Guido, heard the glass breaking and saw JT fleeing.

Guido attempted to chase him but could not catch him.

The incident convinced the Armsteads that remaining in the house was too dangerous.

They boarded up their windows, moved to an apartment elsewhere in Oakland, and began preparing to sell their property.

They had purchased the house less than three years earlier.

The family had already endured months of harassment, multiple attacks on their home, and threats that led to police intervention and a restraining order.

Instead of continuing to live there, they decided to leave.

Even that decision did not protect Miles.

May 1, 2020: The Murder of Miles Armstead

On May 1, 2020, Miles returned to the family's former residence to prepare it for sale.

He planned to complete cosmetic improvements and landscaping.

Two neighbors, Jose Sanchez and another man identified in court as Jesus, were helping him paint and work on the property.

At approximately 1:45 p.m., they ran out of paint.

Miles walked toward his vehicle, intending to buy more supplies.

JT was standing across the street.

According to Sanchez's testimony, Miles noticed JT and commented on his presence.

The two men approached each other in the street.

Sanchez then heard Miles scream.

He turned and saw JT holding a handgun.

A shot rang out.

Sanchez grabbed the children who were helping at the property and hurried them into the backyard.

He heard additional gunfire.

Through a gap in the fence, he saw JT standing over Miles, who was lying face down, and firing toward him.

Another neighbor, Matthew Guido, also witnessed part of the shooting and immediately contacted 911.

Surveillance footage captured the confrontation and showed Miles attempting to run away as the gunman pursued him.

At the scene, investigators recovered six spent nine-millimeter cartridge casings.

The medical examiner determined that Miles had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including three to the back of his head.

Forensic evidence indicated those three shots were fired from close range.

Miles Armstead was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was 44 years old.

His Pregnant Wife Arrived at the Crime Scene

Melina was at the couple's apartment when Miles left that day.

When she could not contact him, she became concerned and drove to their former home.

She arrived to find police vehicles, emergency personnel, and neighbors gathered near the property.

Her husband was dead.

Melina was pregnant with their daughter, Ava, who would be born in July 2020.

The family had moved out specifically because they feared their neighbor.

Miles was killed while preparing the house for someone else to buy.

That same evening, Oakland police located JT at a hotel and arrested him.

The Murder Trial

Prosecutors charged Jamal Thomas with murdering Miles Armstead and with additional offenses involving his earlier conduct toward the family.

The prosecution relied heavily on testimony from neighbors who witnessed the shooting, surveillance footage, Thomas's prior confrontations with Miles, and the recorded threat made during his February arrest.

The case also included forensic evidence from the crime scene and autopsy.

Thomas disputed the accusations.

His defense challenged eyewitness identifications and questioned aspects of the police investigation.

Defense witnesses raised concerns about differences between witness descriptions of the shooter and JT's physical appearance.

Forensic testing did not identify gunshot residue on samples taken from Thomas's hands, although investigators collected those samples several hours after the shooting.

DNA testing of a substance found on one of his shoes did not link it to Miles.

Nevertheless, two neighbors identified JT as the gunman, and surveillance footage corroborated important portions of their accounts.

The jury also heard evidence documenting his escalating conflict with the Armsteads before the murder.

On July 16, 2024, a jury found Thomas guilty of first-degree murder.

He was also convicted of assaulting Miles with a deadly weapon during the earlier brick attack and unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

The $2.4 Million Lawsuit Against Oakland and Alameda County

While the criminal proceedings were underway, Melina Armstead pursued a separate civil case.

In July 2021, she filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Oakland, Alameda County, and other defendants.

The lawsuit accused Oakland police of repeatedly disregarding the family's reports and alleged that county probation officials failed to supervise JT adequately after his release from custody.

The complaint argued that public officials had not merely failed to protect the family but, through some of their actions, had increased the danger.

One particularly significant allegation concerned interactions during which officials allegedly minimized the family's complaints in JT's presence.

The family argued that such statements could have encouraged him to believe that his actions would not result in meaningful consequences.

In March 2022, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler issued a decision allowing important portions of the lawsuit to proceed.

The judge found that the allegations plausibly supported certain claims involving negligence and the creation of additional danger.

However, the ruling was issued at the motion-to-dismiss stage. It did not establish that the police or probation department had actually committed all the misconduct alleged.

In October 2023, Oakland and Alameda County agreed to resolve the litigation for a combined $2.4 million.

The City of Oakland agreed to pay $450,000.

Alameda County agreed to pay $1.95 million.

Oakland stated that it settled to avoid further litigation and did not admit liability.

The settlement provided financial compensation to the surviving family members, although it could not reverse what had happened.

Thomas Receives a Life Sentence

On April 25, 2025, Thomas was sentenced for the murder and related convictions.

He received 25 years to life for first-degree murder, together with consecutive terms totaling three years and eight months for his other offenses.

His combined sentence was therefore 28 years and eight months to life in prison.

Thomas appealed his convictions and filed a habeas corpus petition challenging aspects of his criminal proceedings.

On September 2, 2026, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Two, upheld the judgment and denied his petition.

The appellate court concluded that the record contained substantial evidence supporting the jury's finding of first-degree murder.

Its published online opinion also supplied a detailed chronology of the harassment, criminal investigation, and trial testimony.

As of October 2026, the conviction remains in place.

The Case That Became a Netflix Documentary

The Armstead case attracted renewed public attention in 2026 when Netflix released Worst Neighbor Ever, a true-crime documentary series examining deadly conflicts between neighbors.

The Armstead story was featured in the episode titled Fear Thy Neighbor.

The documentary included interviews with Melina, neighbors, legal representatives, and others familiar with the events.

It also highlighted police body-camera footage recorded during JT's earlier arrest.

The recordings are particularly disturbing because they document a confrontation that occurred months before Miles was killed.

However, the documentary is not the only source for reconstructing the case.

The September 2026 appellate ruling independently documents the earlier threats, property attacks, eyewitness testimony, gunshot evidence, criminal verdict, and sentence.

The civil lawsuit and Oakland's settlement records separately establish the family's legal battle with public authorities.

A Family Forced Out of Its Own Home

The murder of Miles Armstead was not an isolated confrontation between two strangers.

It followed months of documented harassment and threats, repeated property damage, police involvement, an arrest, and a restraining order.

The family eventually decided that leaving its home was the safest option.

Miles nevertheless had to return to prepare the property for sale.

That was when Thomas killed him.

Melina later relocated with her children and continued raising the daughter Miles never had the opportunity to meet.

The family's civil lawsuit resulted in a substantial settlement, while the criminal prosecution ended with a first-degree murder conviction and a life sentence.

The case also raised difficult questions about how authorities should respond when repeated threats escalate toward serious violence.

The federal civil court recognized that, although police generally do not have a constitutional obligation to prevent every crime committed by a third party, certain affirmative actions by officials can potentially create legal liability when they increase a known danger.

No trial verdict ultimately established civil liability against Oakland or Alameda County because the parties settled.

The criminal verdict, however, resolved the central question of who killed Miles.

The most disturbing aspect of the Armstead case is that the family recognized the danger, repeatedly reported it, obtained a restraining order, and even moved out of its home — yet the violence continued until Miles was murdered.