Local and federal authorities came under fire in the aftermath of the killing for releasing Lopez-Sanchez back on the streets of San Francisco just weeks before Steinle’s killing, in part, because of the city’s refusal to hold suspects for immigration violations.
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Following the incident, the country’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reprimanded San Francisco for not adhering to its warnings to deport Sanchez back to Mexico again.
Police investigators testified Tuesday that tourists in San Francisco captured photographs of a murder suspect moments before and after he is alleged to have randomly shot to death a young woman on a waterfront pier.
Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez is due in court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to try him on a murder charge in the July slaying of Kathryn Steinle, 32. An investigator also testified that Sanchez had confessed during his interrogation, which is the same thing he told ABC7 News during a jailhouse interview. Smith said one round had been fired from the seven cartridge magazine clip and that the gun was still functioning normally. It was a black Sig Sauer P239.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol that had been recovered by divers from the San Francisco Bay near Pier 14 the day after the homicide.
San Francisco Police ballistics expert Andy Smith testified that the gun was in good, working condition and that the weapon probably didn’t malfunction. “No matter how the trigger was pulled, that’s the only way the gun could have been fired”, Smith said.
Suddenly, he heard a loud “pop” and Kate Steinle slumped to the ground, moaning “Dad, help me, help me”, he testified Tuesday. Lopez Sanchez was wanted in the city in an old drug possession case that prosecutors later said was not worth pursuing. His lawyer says the shooting of Kate Steinle, 32, on July 1 appeared to be accidental.
There was no testimony that the person in the photo was Lopez-Sanchez prior to a lunch break in the hearing before Judge Brendan Conroy.
“He thought her cellphone blew up”, Discenza said.
San Francisco and other cities and counties ignore requests from federal authorities to detain jail inmates who are thought to be in the country illegally.
Jim Steinle has since traveled to Washington D.C.to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and to urge lawmakers to abolish local policies of ignoring federal immigration requests for cooperation with deportations. But leading politicians, including top Democrats such as California Sen.
Lopez-Sanchez was brought into court for a second day under heavy security.
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That in turn led to criticism of Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi who said there was nothing in Lopez-Sanchez’s past that would have indicated he was a violent threat.
