An intriguing connection has been found between a shocking quadruple homicide on San Francisco's Page Street in January 2015 and last week's Halloween party shooting in Orinda: one of the recent shooting's victims is the brother of the sole suspect in the 2015 shooting. The link has authorities looking into the potential for a motive based on retaliation.
In a city unaccustomed to brazen drive-by shootings, especially in an area so close to affluent Hayes Valley, the January 9, 2015 Page Street shooting was huge news when it happened, and the case remained unsolved for well over a year. Four young men were fatally shot while sitting in a car that was double-parked at the intersection of Laguna and Page: Manuel O’Neal, David Saucier II, Harith Atchan, and Yalani Chinyamurindi. It would be late July 2016 before San Francisco police arrested then-27-year-old Lee Farley Jr., a San Francisco resident, on suspicion of all four murders. Farley, who is around 30 years old now, has remained in custody ever since, lately in SF County Jail, awaiting trial.
Now, as the Chronicle reports, with help from the SFPD, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is investigating a link between that shooting and the one last Thursday that claimed five lives at rowdy party in a rented house in an otherwise quiet Orinda neighborhood. Among the five victim's in last week's shooting was 22-year-old Tiyon Farley of Antioch, who's been described by a grandparent as Lee Farley Jr.'s younger half brother. Also fatally shot was Tiyon Farley's childhood friend, 23-year-old Raymon Hill Jr., of San Francisco and Oakland. Hill had only recently been released from prison after spending six years behind bars for two counts of assault with a firearm. Farley and Hill had allegedly run into each other at the party by chance.
Details about where the investigation has led in terms of a person or persons who might have wanted to retaliate for the 2015 shooting are unclear. News24/680 reports via witness accounts that a "heavy-set" suspect in an orange hoodie was seen shooting a MAC10 pistol into the kitchen at the Halloween party. Video that appears to show the scene at the party prior to the shooting occurring can be viewed in this saved Instagram Story.
All we know from police and the victims' parents back in 2015 was that the shooting was gang-related, and the investigation was stymied by multiple witnesses who were reluctant to talk. Parents said that the four victims were all part of the Western Addition-based Mac Block gang, and they had allegedly gone to the area that night to "air it out" with members of the Page Street gang, following a feud. Lee Farley Jr. was honed in upon as a suspect because he was seen on surveillance video getting into the suspect vehicle involved, a rented silver Hyundai in which Farley had also received a couple of parking tickets just prior to the shooting.
In an unfortunate twist, the Chronicle reports that the father the Farleys shared, Lee Farley Sr., was also a victim of gun violence — he was killed in the infamous shooting outside Jelly's nightclub in Mission Bay in 2010, which led to the Port of SF terminating the club's lease. And Hill's father, Raymon Hill Sr., tells ABC 7 that he has now lost three sons to gun violence.
Related: Will Airbnb or Homeowners Get Sued Over Halloween 'Mansion Party' Shooting? [SFist]
Two Years On, Hayes Valley Quadruple Homicide Case Drags On Very Slowly [SFist]
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