A San Francisco woman who with another man was arrested in a high-profile Twin Peaks homicide pulled the trigger in the crime, prosecutors said this week.
As previously reported, San Francisco Police announced Monday that 20-year-old SF resident Fantasy Decuir and 19-year-old Patterson resident Lamonte Mims were arrested in the July 17 robbery and slaying of 72-year-old film location manager Edward French as he took photos atop Twin Peaks.
Decuir and Mims were arrested on August 3 following a July 28 gunpoint robbery at St. Mary's Cathedral Square at Geary Boulevard and Gough Street. A subsequent investigation, police say, revealed that they were the pair behind French's death.
Though both Decuir and Mims face charges of homicide, robbery and use of a firearm in commission of a crime, it was Decuir who allegedly shot French, ABC 7 reports.
In court Tuesday, KRON 4 reports, prosecutors said that surveillance video from the crime verifies that allegation, and that Mims followed up on the shooting by stealing French's possessions.
As noted Tuesday, this was not Mims's first brush with the law. NBC Bay Area reports that:
Mims was arrested in San Francisco on July 4 on suspicion of possessing a 9 mm Ruger and a .38 special handgun.On July 7, he was formally charged and on July 11, he appeared in a San Francisco court.
A judge granted Mims a release as part of an “assertive case management” program overseen by the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project. The program requires defendants to call in and agree to mental or drug supervision, if requested by the court, but does not require that they post bail as an assurance that they will appear in court.
According to ABC 7, the Pretrial Diversion Project, which partners with the sheriff's department, "made a risk assessment of Mims and found him to be a mid-level risk."
The prosecutor in that case "didn’t argue for or against Mim’s release," NBC reports, even though "Mims had been involved in two prior burglary cases." In July of 2016 he pled no contest to a San Mateo County felony auto burglary and was sentenced to three years’ probation. In November, he was arrested "for a string of alleged auto burglaries around Twin Peaks in which three cars were targeted," and was "charged with receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools."
This March, NBC reports, "a San Francisco judge granted him a 90-day suspended sentence and placed him on probation for 18 months. The charges were reduced to misdemeanors."
On Tuesday, only Mims was in court as "There are some physical limitations about her being here at this time," a DA's spokesperson told ABC 7. "She's in the hospital and should be back on Friday."
Until then, Judge Donna Hitchens has set bail at $5 million for each defendant, even after Assistant District Attorney Michael Swart argued for $10 million," CBS 5 reports.
CBS 5 reports that San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi will himself represent Decuir. Randall Knox, a private attorney, has been assigned to represent Mims. All are expected to return to court this Friday, when both Decuir and Mims will be arraigned.
Previously: Alleged Crime Team Arrested In Slaying Of Man On Twin Peaks