Oakland man arrested in killing of black Muslim leader's son

Associated Press/November 10, 2005

Oakland, California. -- A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of the son of a former local Black Muslim leader during an attempted carjacking.

Alfonza Phillips, 20, was arrested late Tuesday and booked into Alameda County Jail on a murder charge.

Investigators would not say how they linked Phillips to the Oct. 25 killing of 23-year-old Antar Bey at an Oakland gas station as he filled his car.

"Homicide investigators suspect this was a failed carjacking," said police spokesman Blair Alexander said.

Authorities initially wondered if Bey, the appointed successor to lead the Black Muslim organization his late father founded, may have been assassinated. Infighting has plagued the group since Yusuf Bey's death in 2003 of colon cancer.

Yusuf Bey was best known as the founder of Your Black Muslim Bakery, famed for its bean and carrot pies and known as having an open door to struggling families. His empire also included retail businesses, a school and housing units.

But Yusuf Bey's reputation took a hit in later years as he defended himself against allegations in Alameda County that he raped young women from 1976 to 1995. Most charges were later dropped, and one was pending when he died.

Since his death, two other relatives have also been targets of violence.

In July 2004, police found the badly decomposed body of Waajid Aljawaad Bey, 51, the president and chief executive of Your Black Muslim Bakery, buried in a shallow grave in the Oakland hills.

This summer, a gunman ambushed and seriously injured John Bey, the adopted son of Yusuf Bey, as he left his Montclair area home.