Popular homeless man violently killed in Antioch

ANTIOCH, Calif. - There is now a growing memorial outside an Antioch gas station where 48-year-old Raheem Coe, who was homeless, would often hang out.

"He was up here every day, and he had a good spirit on him," said Daymond Kennon, who knew Coe. "He always gave good advice to everybody."

Police say a report of a man down on the sidewalk led first responders to the Antioch Health Center along Country Hills Drive just after 7 a.m. on May 15, where Coe was found to be lifeless.

"It appears to be blunt force trauma at this point," Det. Kristian Palma of the Antioch Police Department said.

Crime scene investigators could be seen collecting a stone, about the size of a grapefruit, as evidence.

"He didn’t deserve to die like that," said Victor Ayala, who was friends with Coe. "Although he was homeless, he was like family, you know. He was a good dude."

Close friend Harold Moore, who at one point experienced homelessness himself, was shocked by the loss.

"I couldn’t believe it," Moore told KTVU. "I never cried so much in my life."

Moore said Coe struggled with mental illness, but the two of them had many heart-to-heart conversations to help Coe get his life back together.

"Is what it is, man. Some people have compassion, some don’t," Moore said.

The organization, Facing Homelessness, does street outreach in Antioch, connecting the unhoused with shelter, rehabilitation, and counseling.

But the group’s director, Nicole Gardner, told KTVU that Antioch does not have the resources to meet the need.

"We don’t have enough in the city, and we are definitely lacking in the county as well," Gardner said. "These are real people. They have families that love them and care about them. They’re good people."

A mural on the non-profit’s bus lists the names of dozens of homeless people who have died in just the last year and a half, although not necessarily from violence.

"We just need to stop the violence," Kennon said.

This marks Antioch’s fifth homicide of 2024, a city that saw 10 homicides the year before.

Police have not identified a suspect, but they are asking anyone who may have driven through Country Hills Dr. from around midnight to 6 a.m. on May 15, who has dashcam video, to contact them.

A public memorial for Raheem Coe is planned for May 24 at 5 p.m. at Dallas Ranch Park in Antioch.