Family of slain inmate questions progress of investigation Family of slain inmate questions progress of investigation (June 09, 2000)

By Greg Kozocas

Distraught family members of Michael Dwayne Wallace, an inmate who was shot and killed at the county work-furlough facility in Mountain View, attended a May 31 press conference organized by the Mountain View Police Department and questioned whether the unsolved case is getting the attention it deserves.

Wallace, 20, was pronounced dead April 27 from a gunshot wound he received at the facility after a single bullet shattered the window of a work-furlough building, traveled down a 50-foot hall, and pierced his chest.

Wallace was serving time for a minor drug offense committed in 1999 and was transferred from the Elmwood Correctional Facility to the work-furlough program in March 2000. He was due to be released in less than a week.

At the press conference Wallace's relatives expressed particular concern over the lack of publicity about the case.

Although Wallace's family members said police have been fully supportive throughout the entire investigation, they are discouraged about the lack of public coverage the case is getting in the newspapers and on television.

"Some cases seem to get more attention than others," Wallace's aunt, Linda Pasters, said, adding that if the shooting had occurred any place other than a prison, the case might have received more attention and been solved already.

The work-furlough facility, located at 590 E. Middlefield Road, houses nonviolent inmates sentenced for drug and alcohol offenses. Inmates sleep at the facility at night and are at their work sites during the day.

The shooting at the discreet building located across the street from high-tech companies such as Netscape, is baffling police and family members.

Questions remain as to whether the shooting was intentional or accidental. Interviews with all 200 inmates have produced few leads, police said.

Family members said Wallace, who moved to the Bay Area from Anchorage in 1998, hadn't been in the area long enough to acquire any enemies, and they wonder whether the bullet was meant for someone else.

Wallace's mother, Janet Wallace, said she had prepared for Michael to be home in a few days, and that he was anxious to make a fresh start. Instead, she said, "We went to the hospital, the mortuary, the cemetery, and now here the conference with the police."

Mountain View Police Detective Dan Vicencio said at the press conference, "I see where the family is coming from, and sometimes because resolution is not made right away, it seems that things are not getting done. However, it's a very time-consuming process interviewing all 200 inmates and staff."

Detective Vicencio added that although the case has produced few leads and no suspects, it is getting full attention from the police department.

Wallace's mother said that until they learn more about what happened April 27, his death will be something they have to live with. However, to this day, the family doubts he was the one targeted to be shot.

Wallace's sister, Anika Wallace, expressed her grief by saying that the hardest part is not knowing why it happened. "We just don't know why. Was it an accident or did someone intentionally want to kill him?"

A construction worker at the San Francisco airport, Wallace was making plans to join the Job Corps when he and his mother moved to the South Bay, where he was arrested on drug charges.