Trial in S.F. pier shooting case begins
Dad testifies in tears of holding dying daughter
SAN FRANCISCO — With his lower lip quivering with emotion and a packed courtroom hanging on every word, a father recounted the final moments of a daughter’s life as they walked on a summer evening stroll on a San Francisco pier more than two years ago.
Jim Steinle told the court that he and a family friend were visiting his daughter Kate Steinle in San Francisco on July 1, 2015. After a late lunch at her favorite restaurant, the trio went for a walk on the pier on San Francisco’s popular waterfront.
The elder Steinle said he heard a loud “bang,” and his daughter collapsed in his arms, saying “help me, Dad.”
Jim Steinle said when she fell to the ground, her eyes were closed and she had difficulty breathing.
“I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.” He said, choking back tears. “She didn’t have any health problems.”
After he rolled Kate Steinle on her side, he lifted her blouse and discovered a bullet hole with little blood. Paramedics arrived shortly afterward, and she was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Her death touched off a debate on illegal immigration and so-called sanctuary cities because Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, the man charged with murder for her death, had been deported five times.
Garcia Zarate’s trial began Monday with Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia showing jurors the handgun that is accused of firing and said a ballistics expert will testify that the only way to fire it is to pull the trigger.
“It’s a very reliable, high-quality gun,” Garcia said. “It’s one that won’t go off on accident.”
Garcia Zarate’s lawyer, Matt Gonzalez, countered that his client did not know he had picked up a gun when he reached under a bench and found something wrapped in a T-shirt. The lawyer said the gun had no safety and operated on a hair-trigger motion.
“This gun is inherently dangerous in the hands of someone who isn’t properly trained,” Gonzalez said.
The shooting touched off a political furor during last year’s presidential race, with President Donald Trump citing the killing as a reason to toughen U.S. immigration policies.
The handgun belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported that it stolen.