Mervin Ray Hughes was born on January 27, 1969. He grew up in Oakland, California. 

On September 16, 1986, Mervin Ray Hughes shot Jesse Clarence Dunlap, who was 38 years old, during a drug-related dispute in Oakland. Dunlap was taken to Highland Hospital, but he died from his injuries. Hughes was arrested and later convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He received an eight-year prison sentence. He was released before 1992 but was arrested again for a murder in another city. However, that case was dropped because witnesses did not testify.

From January 15 to January 29, 1999, Hughes carried out a shooting spree in East Oakland. During this time, he shot eleven people, killing two. Hughes used drive-by shootings as his method. His first victim survived after being shot on the 2200 block of 62nd Avenue. The next day, he killed 20-year-old Terry Love on the 2500 block of Seminary Avenue. After a week, he shot another victim on the 5000 block of Bancroft Avenue, who also survived.

As the shootings continued, police suspected a single shooter. On January 27, Hughes returned to Bancroft Avenue and killed 33-year-old Robert M. Fisher while shooting at three men. The other two survived. The next day, he shot another man on the same block as his first attack, and that man also survived. Later that day, Hughes shot three men on the 1700 block of 48th Avenue, all of whom were wounded but lived.

On January 29, Hughes shot a man and a woman on the 1700 block of 57th Avenue. They both survived. He committed his final shooting of the spree on the same day at the 3000 block of 62nd Avenue, where the victim survived as well. Police later identified one of the cars Hughes used to commit the shootings, traced it back to him, and arrested him on January 30. They seized a 9mm semi-automatic and two other vehicles from him.

On February 2, 1999, Hughes was arraigned on multiple charges, including two counts of murder. During the arraignment, his mother fainted in the courtroom and was taken to the hospital. Hughes pleaded not guilty to all charges. In 2004, he was found guilty of both murder cases and 17 other felony charges. However, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether to sentence him to death.

A new jury was brought in the following year. On March 9, 2005, after several hours of deliberation, they sentenced Hughes to death. A judge called him "the worst of the worst." Besides the death sentence, he received an additional 300-year prison sentence, which would apply if the death sentence were overturned. Hughes is currently awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison, with no execution date set.