Two men who were convicted in the October 2020 gang-related murder of a 30-year-old San Mateo man in his driveway, in front of his two-year-old son, have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The shooting happened on the morning of October 30, 2020 on the 1600 block of Eleanor Drive in San Mateo. 30-year-old Ueta Savelio Muasika Jr., also known by his rapper name Juice Boi, was buckling his two-year-old son into a car seat in his driveway when he was approached by two men in a vehicle who would later be identified as John Talia Paasi, now 33, of San Mateo, and Isileli Mahe, now 34, of Oakland.

One of the men got out of the vehicle and shot Muasika, execution style, 14 times, with one of the bullets striking the two-year-old in the face. The child survived, but Muasika died from his wounds.

As the San Mateo Daily Journal reports, investigators believe that the killing was done in revenge for the 2019 arson-fire death of Paasi's grandmother — in a fire that police say was set by Muasika's cousin Fifita Tau. Per the Journal, Tau allegedly believed the house belonged to members of rival West Side Tonga Gang members, in retaliation for violence against family members of his gang, the Eastside Shoreview Crips.

According to San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini, at the time of the crime, the shooting "was personal and targeted" and "Mr. Paasi and the victim had known each other for over 15 years."

After an 18-month investigation, Paasi was taken into custody in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Mahe was arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina.

After a nearly month-long trial, on March 26, 2026, Paasi and Mahe were both convicted of first-degree murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, with the enhancement of lying in wait. As KRON4 reports, the pair were sentenced on Wednesday to life without the possibility of parole.

Family members of Muasika reportedly delivered victim-impact statements at the sentencing hearing, and according to prosecutors, Judge Michael Wendler acknowledged "the pain suffered by the families of the victim and the defendants by the senseless acts of both defendants."

Muasika’s wife, Leslie Munoz, reportedly told reporters that she was pleased with the sentences, and that she can now tell her son that the men who killed his father will never be let out of prison.