Two groups of strangers met at SF nightclub. Hours later, one was shot to death in East Oakland

OAKLAND — Two small groups of friends met for the first time at a San Francisco nightclub when the women invited the men to follow them back to their home in East Oakland for more socializing.

That simple, unassuming invitation was the first in a chain of events that led to the killing of 23-year-old Guillermo Kelly-Torres at a home on the 9200 block of E Street in Oakland, according to witness testimony. Now, Kelly-Torres’ suspected killer is behind bars, awaiting trial after a judge upheld the murder count against him, court records show.

The suspect, Juan Sura-Martinez, 22, wasn’t even at Carbon Lounge when Kelly-Torres and some friends met Sura-Martinez’s sister and her two friends. When the club closed around 2 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2023, the women invited the men back to the E Street ho