He was shot dead on a downtown Oakland street on August 2, 2007, the victim of a crime syndicate he was investigating for a story.
In June 2011, Yusuf Bey IV, the owner of Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB), was convicted of ordering Bailey's murder, along with other charges, and sentenced to three life terms in prison.
[2] Chauncey Bailey had been working on a story about the finances of Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB), which was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In 2005, Antar mortgaged the YBMB property to cover back taxes and other debt, and then defaulted, which led to threat of foreclosure.
A funeral Mass for Bailey was held at the East Oakland St. Benedict's Catholic Church on the morning of August 8, 2007, with an overflow crowd of 700 in attendance, including a line of people outside for more than an hour into the service.
Attendees included Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, and well-known local attorney John Burris.
In January 2006, at age 18, he pleaded guilty to an assault charge and served a first-time offender sentence of one year in San Francisco County Jail.
[13] In addition to his probation status, Broussard was wanted on an outstanding failure-to-appear warrant for his arrest, charged with a 2006 assault with a firearm in San Francisco.
[14] On the night of August 1, 2007, Broussard first went looking for Bailey at his apartment complex, having discovered his residence near the south end of Lake Merritt.
At 7:17 a.m. an AC Transit bus driver reported seeing a man, who may have been Broussard, standing near Bailey's apartment complex at First Avenue and International Boulevard with a shotgun.
[15] After the death of the elder Yusuf, one of his followers, Waajid Aljawwaad (who sometimes used the additional last name of Bey), became the CEO of YBMB as his designated successor.
"[21] Some of the crimes Bey IV committed during this period included theft by deception and forgery involving the purchase of several cars; fraudulent sub-prime home loan applications; possession of a firearm after attempting to open a checking account using forged identification; and a bizarre kidnapping and assault on a woman Yusuf IV believed was connected with drug dealers who owed him money, or whom he could rob.
In May 2007, Antoine Mackey began working at YBMB after moving to Oakland from San Francisco, where he had obtained a lengthy criminal record for crimes that included weapons violations, and been shot on multiple occasions in what police later indicated were likely gang-related incidents.
In a news conference later that day, Oakland Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan said that several weapons and other evidence of value linked the killing of Chauncey Bailey to members of the group.
In the 1000 block of 59th Street, police recovered[5] the shotgun used in the killing of Bailey in a closet of the home where Broussard was also detained.
[4] Broussard was booked on suspicion of murder on August 4, 2007, for the killing of Bailey, having told police detectives that he considered himself "a good soldier".
[14] On August 7, Broussard was arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
In a 2008 60 Minutes interview, Broussard claimed he was coerced by Yusuf Bey IV to plead guilty for the benefit of the bakery and others arrested.
A grand jury indicted Bey IV for ordering the execution of Chauncey Bailey in April 2009, almost two years after the murder.
He stated in court that Bey ordered him to find, track and kill Bailey before the journalist could print his latest article on the bakery.
[29] On June 9, 2011, Bey IV and Mackey were both convicted by a trial jury of multiple counts of murder[33] and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Contra Costa Times editorialized on April 30, 2011 that the intimidation must stop and that the judge, Thomas Reardon, along with bailiffs and the sheriff should get control of the trial to allow justice to be done.
A man who worked at the convenience store that Bey IV allegedly attacked with his followers said he did not remember over 50 times at trial.
[40] Even Broussard testified later that he did not remember Bey IV giving him specific orders to kill Odel Roberson or Chauncey Bailey.