Bay Area

Probate Court Judge Ruled Unfairly, Asserts Black Beneficiary of $2 Million Estate

When Dr. Laura Dean Head left this earth, she left her estate to the person who had been the most loving to her, Zakiya Folami Jendayi. Head’s former student from San Francisco State University, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister, mentee and friend had known each other for 28 years. During that period, Head had been estranged from her two sisters.

Published

2 years ago

July 5, 2023

Oakland Post

Jendayi is reaching out to more than 100 African American respondents who have had the similar experience of losing their estates because of Bean’s, other judges, commissioners, attorneys, and court reporters’ actions against them. Next month Jendayi and other respondents will present their information before the County Board of Supervisors and then possibly a class-action lawsuit.

By Tanya Dennis

When Dr. Laura Dean Head left this earth, she left her estate to the person who had been the most loving to her, Zakiya Folami Jendayi.

Head’s former student from San Francisco State University, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister, mentee and friend had known each other for 28 years. During that period, Head had been estranged from her two sisters.

Not only giving Jendayi power of attorney, Head also made her longtime friend her agent of advance health care, trust administrator, trustee of her estate and sole beneficiary. Head disinherited her two sisters and included a no-contest clause in her trust.

These decisions did not occur in a vacuum: Head told her best friend Dr. Derethia DuVal that she wanted Jendayi to inherit her property and belongings. Head also told the Kaiser Hospice social worker Jenna Noe that she was leaving her belongings to Jendayi.

Head passed away on June 19, 2013. Jendayi took four years to remodel Head’s residence and moved into the home in 2017.

Seven years after Head’s death, her sister filed a petition on May 18, 2020, to invalidate the trust for “undue influence and or forgery.” The Head sisters, Della Hamlin and Helaine Head, when asked for comment, did not respond.

Alameda County Probate Court Judge Sandra K. Bean initially tentatively ruled in the first hearing Aug. 5, 2020, that the sisters were not beneficiaries or trustees, therefore they had no standing.

The sisters’ counsel Daniel Leahy changed the allegation to financial elder abuse, in the second hearing but never amended his petition, or brought the issue of financial elder abuse up throughout the trial.

During the second hearing on May 10, 2021, Bean changed her ruling and scheduled a trial that was supposed to take four days but instead lasted for 18.

Fifteen witnesses testified and not one testified that there was undue influence, according to Jendayi.

Head’s estate planning attorney Elaine Lee entered a declaration, was deposed, and testified during the trial in 2022 that Jendayi had nothing to do with the establishment of the will and trust. Attorney Lee testified, “I met with Dr. Head alone, as well as with Ms. Jendayi and I did not find Head to be a victim of fraud or undue influence.”

Bean then ruled on March 28, 2023, that Head had not lacked mental capacity and there was no forgery but that Jendayi “unduly influenced Head to leave her estate to Jendayi.” When the court-appointed attorney Phillip Campbell was asked for comment, he did not respond.

Bean’s ruling invalidated the trust, taking all of Head’s assets, the car, house, retirement, and investments valued over $2 million, which is likely to end up going to probate attorneys for fees and to the sisters, who Head disinherited. When Head sisters’ attorney Daniel Leahy was contacted, he responded “I cannot comment on an ongoing court case.”

Jendayi decided to appeal the decision and hired attorneys Griffin Schindler and James Decker who filed the appeal on April 17, 2023.

Griffin filed the appeal based on “1. The evidence is insufficient to justify the verdict or other decisions, 2. The verdict or other decisions are against the law, and 3. There was error in the law, occurring at trial and excepted to by the moving party.“

“I am filing a complaint against the judge because Bean withheld evidence supporting my position that there was no undue influence,” Jendayi said. “She added false evidence against me, and Bean’s demeanor towards me was hostile and bias with Bean stating “The court observed the respondent’s strong, authoritative manner throughout trial which the court finds would influence a person in Dr. Head’s state.”

“Dr. Head and I had attorneys in 2013; we did the right thing,” Jendayi says. “The Creator has directed me to fight for my ancestor’s descendants who have also had their estates stolen.

“Unfortunately, our stolen legacy is standard operating procedure within the probate judicial system. I will continue to fight the injustice within the justice system until I am victorious,” Jendayi said.

Although Court appointed attorney Phillip Campbell has filed a petition for Jendayi to surrender all the assets she remains in the home.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.