The San Mateo County District Attorney said in court Tuesday that he’s seeking the death penalty for accused Half Moon Bay mass shooter Chunli Zhao, though this is mostly a symbolic move.
When that Half Moon Bay mass shooting in January 2023 took the lives of seven people and injured an eighth person, the legal proceedings against suspected shooter Chunli Zhao started right away. And now two-and-a-half years later, those courtroom proceedings are still continuing.
But there was some news from the court Tuesday, as KTVU reports that San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is seeking the death penalty against the 68-year-old Zhao. Zhao is currently facing seven counts of murder, special circumstances of multiple murders, and one count of attempted murder.
The move for the death penalty, though, is mostly symbolic. California has not executed a death row prisoner since 2006, and Governor Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on prisoner executions in 2019.
The 2023 shootings exposed the dreadful conditions that the mostly Chinese and Latino immigrant farm workers lived in at the farm, residing in substandard farmworker housing. And while there have been efforts to improve those workers’ housing arrangements, that work has been very slow to take place. The shooting reportedly stemmed from a dispute over a $100 damage charge, and Zhao had a history of alleged violent behavior toward his co-living roommates on the farm.
According to KPIX, the next hearing date is scheduled for August 6. Zhao has pleaded not guilty, though it may complicate his argument that he appeared to confess to the killings in a jailhouse interview with NBC Bay Area just days after the shootings took place.
Image: REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: Chunli Zhao appears for a motion hearing at the San Mateo County Hall of Justice on February 10, 2023 in Redwood City, California. Zhao has been charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the mass shooting on Jan. 23, in Half Moon Bay. (Photo by Dai Sugano-Pool/Getty Images)
