RICHMOND -- A 34-year-old Sacramento man who went to an El Sobrante hardware store on a "mission from Allah to help people" before fatally stabbing an employee 17 times was arraigned on murder charges Tuesday, prosecutors say.
Daymond Agnew, charged with murder with use of a knife in Sunday's slaying of 49-year-old Daniel Joseph Stone, of Pinole, at Oliver's Ace Hardware, did not enter a plea and was ordered to return to the Richmond courthouse on Aug. 13 with a public defender.
Agnew has been held in County Jail on $1.3 million bail since prosecutors say that -- by sheer coincidence -- he was captured in the store owner's family home, located not far from the store at 4071 San Pablo Dam Road.
According to witnesses, surveillance video and the defendant's own account, Agnew went to the store and walked up to Stone and a customer as they were discussing a paint purchase, deputy district attorney Mary Knox said. After Stone told Agnew that he would help the customer on his own, Agnew used the store's spray paint to paint his face in Oakland Raiders' silver and black because the football team is "in favor with Allah," Knox said.
Agnew stabbed Stone at least once in the store after Stone told colleagues to call 911, Knox said. Agnew allegedly stabbed Stone many more times outside the store before running to a nearby creek.
By way of the creek, Agnew ended up in the backyard of the home of the store owner, Richard Oliver, who had just received the call about the attack on his employee, Knox said. Oliver, who was with his wife and son, fled the residence and called police to their home.
"Somehow he ends up holding the family dog and in their house," Knox said. "He's wearing a bloody hoodie, crouched down with the knife beneath him."
Stone, a grandfather of two, was described by his corporate office as a dedicated employee who had worked at the El Sobrante store for about a year.
Agnew's family said they were stunned to learn of his arrest. They said he had been visiting family in Hercules that day and when he left, they assumed he was headed back to Sacramento, where he lives with his wife and young daughter. He had recently converted to Islam, they said.
Knox said the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office wants to talk to an unidentified man with a white sedan who they believe may have seen Agnew and the victim interact before the stabbing. They are asking anyone with information to call Detective Erin Bai at 925-313-2600.