DA Announces Gun Enhancements

District Attorney Pamela Price has authorized a gun enhancement for Vaughn Boatner, a 33-year-old man accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend in her Hayward home on May 11, 2023. DA Price also has authorized his extradition from Washington state to California to face those charges, in addition to attempted murder charges and child abuse.

Mr. Boatner, of San Mateo, is accused of fatally shooting 30-year-old Monique Aldridge seven times in the head and also shooting her new boyfriend Jacques Jackson Fields once in the head and in the arm. The incident unfolded in front of the five-year-old son both Aldridge and Boatner shared. 

Mr. Jackson Field survived and managed to protect the young boy. U.S. Marshals captured Vaughn Boatner on May 22 in Seattle. He will be brought back to Alameda County to face justice. 

“In this instance, we believe the major gun enhancement is appropriate in this egregious violent crime,” DA Price said. “The message I will continue to repeat is that our special directive doesn’t prohibit all gun enhancements. Each crime requires a painstaking evaluation of the evidence and the circumstances. Unless required by law or excluded from the policy, enhancements are not going to be automatically applied. They will be used sparingly when appropriate, as in this case.”

Without any gun enhancements, Boatner could face 25 years to life for the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend and seven years to life for the attempted premeditated murder of Jackson Field. With enhancements, he could face 50 years to life for murder and 32 to life for attempted murder.