Tim Conover, 37, in an undated photo with fiancé Zazzi Cribbs. Conover was shot and killed by a close family friend at his Oakland, Calif. home on July 5, 2025. (Conover Family via Bay City News)

Oakland police have identified a man they suspect in the shooting death of a father of two following a Fourth of July party at the victim’s house. 

Dwane Stewart, 40, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder and several enhancements, including using a gun and inflicting great bodily harm.

Stewart is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail and is accused of killing Tim Conover, 37, after a holiday party at Conover’s home in the 800 block of 41st Street in Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood. 

When they arrived, officers found Conover suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

Stewart was a close friend of Conover’s and was somebody he “trusted like family,” according to a GoFundMe crowdfunding page his family set up to help his fiance and two children, ages 9 and 5, manage expenses.

The GoFundMe page had raised more than $32,023 as of Thursday morning.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.