The dead woman's body we regretfully mentioned, which was found in the parking lot at Berkeley's Aquatic Park around 4 a.m. Friday morning, turns out to be that of 23-year-old Zoelina Williams of West Oakland, a quiet girl who lost both of her parents to cancer, one in the last few months. She had allegedly been in a relationship with one Curtis Martin III, a neighbor with a criminal record whom Zoelina had been secretly dating, unbeknownst to her family.
A woman's body was found in the parking lot along Berkeley's bayside Aquatic Park this morning. And we quote, via SF Gate: "The area is known for drug use and prostitution, but [police] said it was too early to say whether those factors were involved in the slaying." ABC 7 has raw video of the cops on the scene. We promise we'll stop dropping these terrible bits of news on you first thing in the morning just as soon as they stop happening.
In the span of 75 minutes, three people were killed in Oakland on Thursday morning, allegedly in the heat of domestic violence blowups.
While stomping over to Whole Foods SOMA on Sunday (alas, Greenlee's Cinnamon Bread trumps the boycott), we looked to the sky and saw a plane carrying a banner, reading, "Who Murdered My Son? JusticeForBrandon.com"
CHINATOWN/SUNDAY: A man was shot in the city's finest neighborhood, Chinatown. The victim, according to reports, was an adult male, who was shot at Grant Avenue and Jackson Street "a little after 12 a.m. [on] Sunday."
Of the three men arrested in connection with Sunday's Papa Potrero's shooting death, San Francisco prosecutors charged a 19-year-old Andres Siordia with one count of murder. If you recall, the double shooting, which is alleged to have stemmed from friction between "separate factions of the Norteno street gang," claimed the lives of SF residents Francisco Pena, 41, and Francisco Cornejo, 26.
The woman who was found shot shot to death in Tiburon yesterday morning, making it the city's first homicide in a decade, has been identified as 75-year-old Joan Rosenthal. According to police, there was no sign of a break in and nothing from Rosenthal's residence was stolen. Rosenthal, described as a "a wonderful member of the community," held a "a contemporary fiction book group with Tiburon Mayor Alice Fredericks since 1997." Anyone with information as to who did this should call the Marin County Sheriff's Department at 415-499-7265.
Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III of Castro Valley, the aspiring GANGSTA URBAN HIP-HOP RAP artist known as "Syko Sam" who allegedly killed four people in a small Virginia town (including his wildly naive girlfriend), bludgeoned his victims to death. Why? Because ""Jesus told [Syko Sam] to do it."
Juan Guerra, 24, was shot and killed in front of his East Oakland on Wednesday. According to SFGate, "Guerra was standing outside his home on the 9700 block of Walnut Street when someone approached and shot him for an unknown reason." No arrests have been made.
64-year-old Yvette Harden, according to the Oakland Tribune, "fatally shot her handicapped daughter at an East Oakland skilled nursing facility Sunday night then killed herself with the same gun." Harden had been living at the Oakland Springs Health Center since 2003. She left neither note nor any explanation as to why. This makes this the third incident "of its kind" in less than a week, reports The Chronicle. Apparently, a 17-year-old boy shot and killed his girlfriend before non-fatally shooting himself in Fremont on Friday, two days after a Vallejo resident "shot and gravely wounded a woman before shooting himself to death at the Motel 6 on Edes Avenue in East Oakland."
Proving to be a woman of her word, San Francisco DA Kamala Harris refused to kowtow to public pressure that demanded the death penalty in the murder of a man and his two sons. If you recall, Edwin Ramos (a 22-year-old illegal immigrant/MS 13 gang member with two prior felonies, an assault of a Muni passenger and the attempted robbery of a pregnant lady) is charged with killing Tony Bologna and his sons Michael and Matthew in June of 2008. According to KGO, prosecutor Harry Dorfman made the following "surprise" announcement in court yesterday: "The District Attorney has decided to seek the special circumstances penalty of life without parole; we will not seek the death penalty in this case." Harris, who strongly opposes the death penalty, has never sought capital punishment in any case.
And now for some even more depressing news. SFAppeal has word that Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, the foster parents of 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell who went missing earlier this month, have been arrested for murder. "Jennifer Campbell, Hasanni's aunt, is in custody in Oakland, while Ross has been arrested and is en route to the city," according to Officer Jeff Thomason.
Some of you may recall the case of two methamphetamine addicts, Richard Carelli and Michele Pinkerton, both now 39, who were accused of murdering of their landlord, Leonard Hoskins, in December 2007. It seems that Hoskins, who also had a history of meth use, had initiated eviction proceedings against the couple, who lived in his garage in-law unit on Mission Terrace. A neighbor witnessed Carelli hit Hoskins over the head with a wooden board and drag him into the garage. His body was found weeks later in the couples' van, which landed in the impound after they had high-tailed it to Baja, where they were arrested last April. Using meth-head logic, they justified their crime because an eviction would have hurt their chances of regaining custody of their daughter.
On Saturday, a man entered a gay support center in Israel, killing two and injuring "at least 10." Most of the victims, according to BBC News, were young teens.
The bodies of a Walnut Creek woman and her son were found on Friday at the top of Mount Diablo. Their deaths appears to be the result of a mother-son murder-suicide. Judith Williams, 51, and her son Adam, 16, were found by authorities late last week after the two went for a hike. According to NBC Bay Area/Bay Area News, the scene looked premeditated as well. "They were there for several hours before Judith Williams apparently shot her son in the chest and the head and then shot herself in the head," NBC reports. Andy, it seems, was also very popular at his high school: played on the football team, played the saxophone. Also, the mom "appeared to have been having some financial problems and was upset about issues in a relationship between her ex-husband, Adam's father, and his new wife," which might have led to her snapping. (Ladies, rumor has it many of you have a multitude of complicated and multilayered feelings/emotions, ones that shouldn't always translate into rational thought or action. Please, if you plan on offing yourself, leave the offspring out of it. Thanks.)
Remember that young Christian couple who was found shot to death on the beach near Jenner in 2004? Well, the case remains open, however there was a person of interest named Joseph Burgess who was suspected in the case by Sonoma County sheriffs because of the similarity of a 1972 murder in British Columbia in which Burgess was also a suspect.
A little before 5:30 p.m. last night, and Appeal reports that Delvon Fields, 28, was shot near the intersection of Third Street and McKinnon Avenue in the Bayview. Fields was rushed to SF General where he was later pronounced dead. No arrests have been made, no suspect information is available. However, if you know anything about Fields' death, please call the Bayview anonymous tip line at 415-822-8147.
The man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, has managed to set up a website. Why? Because he plans on going forward with his appeal. While death row inmates are forbidden from internet access, much less blogging (no, wait, he is!), Scott's family has created scottpetersonappeal.org, "where they acknowledge that part of the cost of his new appeal hearing will be picked up by California taxpayers." Oh, and they also want you to give them some money. You can donate anywhere from $5 to $50. "With your contribution to the Peterson Family fund, the investigation will be able to move forward uninterrupted, the burden to pay for it will be lifted from our parents, and we will be one step closer to the priceless freedom of our innocent brother," the Peterson family painfully explains. They need up to $95,000 for attorney fees. The Petersons are also "offering a $5000 reward for specific information leading to the recovery of Laci's missing Croton watch," which we assume is some sort of important piece of evidence.
The son of dead, famed San Francisco pornographer Jim Mitchell -- he himself a murderer, convicted of fratricide and sentenced to having his story portrayed by the vile Charlie Sheen -- will be in court today. James Raphael Mitchell, 27, if you recall, (allegedly) beat to death Danielle Keller, 29, the mother of his one-year-old daughter. Then, in yet another brilliant move, he kidnapped his daughter and tried to flee. Anyway, the troubled, combative soul is due in court today. Will he eventually beat this mess? Probably. Because he comes form money and has a semi-famous name, and they get everything. (No offense, Peter Getty.) But the victim's mother, Claudia Stevens, hopes otherwise, saying, "His father always bailed him out of every piece of trouble he ever got into. Now that Daddy's gone, there's no one to bail him out...I do not think all the money in the world is going to set him free." He'll be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today.
A little after 11 p.m. last night, two men were shot in the McAllister and Webster area of Alamo Square / Western Addition. A teenage boy, 17-year-old Xavier Gillette, later died at a nearby hospital. The other victim, however, is expected to survive. No arrests have been made. We'll update with more details as we find them.
This morning, Pinole Police held a press conference, informing the public that they've finally figured ourt there whereabouts of Amber Swartz-Garcia, missing since 1988. She's dead. Notorious child killer Curtis Dean Anderson, it seems, was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Swartz-Garcia. If you recall, Anderson was convicted of the rape and murder of 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild in 1999. According to the Mercury News, "Amber vanished the afternoon of June 3, 1988, last seen skipping rope in front of her home on the 3400 block of Savage Avenue. Her disappearance launched a national search that drew thousands of tips and prayers to this small-town suburb in western Contra Costa County. Pinole police detectives and FBI agents now acknowledge that those prayers were in vain." Anderson, who was "serving more than 300 years in Corcoran State Prison," died in 2007.
FRIDAY / MARINA: Marking a rare guest appearance on SFist Blotter is the controversial Marina neighborhood. [cue Ritual Roasters coffee spit take] See, during a two-hour standoff inside a Marina hotel at 11 p.m., Waddell Williams, 33, allegedly shot at officers from inside his "touristy hotel room." The incident occurred at the Chelsea Motor Inn, located at Lombard and Webster streets. No one was injured. Williams was arrested. No word yet as to why he shot at SFPD officers.
The unidentified man suspected of killing Geraldine Karina Latchison, 23, and her sister, Angel Latchison, 20, was arrested by police at around 2:30 a.m. this morning. Police found him inside a house at 16th Street and Myrtle. The man reportedly called the police too. Strange. Anyway, if you recall, the two sisters "were found shot dead at the Value Inn on West MacArthur Boulevard in North Oakland on Monday night." The sisters' family members claim that they were living there since June 5, after "being evicted from their West Oakland home in an ongoing dispute with a landlord." (Er, apologies if we ever suggested otherwise.) The two reportedly had an ongoing relationship with a man, although we can't say for sure if it's the same man who, most likely, will be charged with their murders.
Well, this is mighty grim news. It seems an unidentified man was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of Kezar Stadium at the edge in Golden Gate Park this morning, just at the edge of Stanyan Street. The fuzz doesn't yet know how long the body has been there, when he died. So, there you have it.
El Dorado Hills Steven Colver and Tylar Witt, suspected of murdering Tylar's mother, have been caught this morning. San Bruno police, according to KRON 4, captured the two at the Tanforan Mall. (Because no one would ever think to find teens at a mall.) On Monday, if you recall, deputies found Joanne Witt, 47, in her home in El Dorado Hills, which is 22 miles east of Sacramento. According to reports, Witt died after suffering "violent injuries." The abandoned car the teens used to evade police was found on the 500 block of O'Farrell Street last night.
Melissa Huckaby, the 28-year-old Tracy woman accused of kidnapping, raping and
Yesterday, after SFist asked why the San Francisco murder rate in 2009 has been so low, the Examiner answered: Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Today, San Francisco's California Supreme Court made the decision to uphold the death penalty of Richard Allen Davis, the man convicted of kidnapping and killing 12-year-old Polly Klass at knife point during her slumber party. If you recall, the case made headlines across the country back in the day, including a cameo from Peteluma local Winona Ryder. (An Aside: Does Ryder still live in Pacific Heights? Where is she these days? We miss her. Word has it she's also in some sort of Star Wars Outerspace Galactica-ish movie we will never see.) Anyway, according to reports, a lengthy 112 page decision boiled down to this: Yeah, let's kill the bastard. So, congratulations to all of you eye-for-an-eye believers.
This year's murder rate -- which, as SF Appeal notes, the mainstream media cannot agree upon; it's 18 or 19, depending on who you read -- is kind of low. In fact, as SFist commenter redtim deftly pointed out last week, "last year we were at 48 (according to sfcrime) by Memorial Day." And now? We're at 18, 19, or 20. For SFist alone, it's been damn near impossible to find a consistent, traffic-spiking murder story to post on a regular basis. (Step up to the plate, lazy fucking criminals.) So, why is the murder rate so jarringly low? Has the Obama regime ushered in a kinder, gentler vibe throughout SF? Are our murderers getting craftier? Are reports of murders getting lost? In an effort to get elected governor, is Mayor Gavin Newsom hiding the bodies? Is this some sort of gift from the Baby Jesus? Tell us.
On Sunday morning a little before 10:30 a.m. in the Bayview district, Levit Chavez Jr., 22, allegedly stabbed to death his father, Levit Chavez Sr., 49. According to SF Weekly, Chavez Jr. "is being held in connection with his father's stabbing death and the near-fatal stabbing of the elder Chavez' longtime girlfriend at 47 Ceres Street near Third Street." Jr. was arrested, it seems, after hiding out at a nearby Walgreens. While the reason for this weekend's grim patricide is not yet know, suggest that it "appear[s] to have stemmed from 'some type of argument.'" Intriguing, indeed. Anyway, this brings San Francisco's murder rate to 18 for 2009.
Newsom's Uncomfortable Interview With Hank Plante
Chilling Account of a Muni Mugging
NBC Picks Up Troubled Trauma?
Muni Removing Bus Stops on 21 Hayes Line
Fee Increase Protest Prompts UCLA Students to Take Over Building
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