Woman gets 12 years for murder of shop owner

An Oakland woman was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in state prison for deliberately running over an Emeryville kiteboarding shop owner with his own car in Oakland in May 2015.

Ella Coleman, 25, was charged with murder for the death of 47-year-old Royce Vaughn with his own car in the 800 block of 28th Street on May 29, 2015, but prosecutors recently agreed to let her plead no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Oakland police said Vaughn, a married 6 feet 4 inch, 220-pound man who owned KGB Kite-boarding in Emeryville, had picked up Coleman on San Pablo Avenue and hired her as a prostitute.

But they said when he got out of his 2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser in the 800 block of 28th Street she allegedly jumped into the driver’s seat and ran him over, killing him.

Police said they had gotten into an argument, possibly over money.

Coleman then allegedly fled in his car, which was later found abandoned in the 1400 block of 44th Avenue.

Vaughn’s death went unsolved for months, but Coleman was arrested for a robbery and assault in August 2015 and in December 2015 police developed enough evidence to connect her to the crime and have her charged with murder.

Police said Coleman admitted when she was interviewed on Dec. 8 that she had killed Vaughn.

Prosecutors said she has a prior conviction for accessory to a crime in 2010.

KGB Kite-boarding continued operating after Vaughn’s death and held a memorial for him in June 2015.

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