OAKLAND -- Three men were charged Monday in the February fatal shooting of a San Jose man at an East Oakland unlicensed massage parlor and the robbing of a doorman, authorities said.

Oakland residents Curtis Yee, 44, and Vuong Dinh Phan, 35, and Berkeley resident Lae Lay Lokeaphone, 31, were charged with murder and the special circumstance enhancements because the killing occurred during a robbery and a burglary.

Yee, who investigators said fired the gun, has several previous felony convictions and will be prosecuted under three-strikes statutes. Phan and Lokeaphone also have criminal records, authorities say, but do not qualify for three-strikes prosecution.

Police don't think any of the suspects knew the victim, 31-year-old Jian Jin.

The shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at an apartment in the 2000 block of 16th Avenue. Police have said the apartment was an unlicensed massage parlor where acts of prostitution also occurred.

Police don't believe Jin was a customer but was visiting someone at the apartment.

Officer Christina Land, the lead investigator, said Lokeaphone drove the other two men to the apartment and waited while they forced their way in. A man in his 50s who worked as the doorman was robbed of his cellphone and cash before Jin was shot. Police are not sure why Jin was shot, since they don't believe anything was stolen from him.

None of the women present were robbed or harmed, authorities said.


Land said investigators developed leads that led to the three suspects. They were all arrested Thursday at different sites in Oakland and are being held without bail.

Authorities said Yee's prior convictions are between 1989 and 2008 and include assault with a firearm; extortion and robbery, for which he was sent to prison; and assault with a deadly weapon, forgery and burglary, for which he was given probation.

Lokeaphone has four prior felony convictions between 2000 and 2012, including accessory to a felony, for which he was sent to prison. He was given probation after a burglary and two convictions for receiving stolen property. Phan was given probation after a 2005 narcotics conviction.