An undocumented Mexican immigrant who shot dead a woman on a San Francisco pier two years ago fired the gun on purpose, a prosecutor said on Monday as his murder trial got underway.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 54, has acknowledged shooting 32-year-old Kate Steinle in the back while she was walking with her father on the downtown San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015.
But Garcia Zarate has said the shooting was accidental and that he was handling a handgun he found wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench on the pier when it accidentally fired.
Garcia Zarate had been deported five times from the US and was homeless in San Francisco when he shot Steinle.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 54, has acknowledged shooting 32-year-old Kate Steinle in the back while she was walking with her father on the downtown San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015
Her tragic death immediately caused uproar and became a rallying cry for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while on the campaign trail. Trump had cited Steinle’s death as a reason to toughen US immigration policies.
Prosecutor Diana Garcia showed the jury the gun that killed Steinle and said she was shot on purpose during opening statements on Monday.
She added that a ballistics expert will testify that the gun would not have gone off accidentally, as the suspect has claimed.
Meanwhile, Garcia Zarate’s defense attorney Matt Gonzalez reiterated his client’s prior claims, telling jurors the Mexican national didn’t realize he had picked up a handgun when it fired.
The lawyer told jurors the gun, which had been stolen from the car of a law enforcement officer, was dangerous because it didn’t have a safety and had a hair trigger.
Steinle’s parents and brother attended the opening of the trial.
Garcia Zarate (pictured in court on Monday) has said the shooting was accidental and that he was handling a handgun he found wrapped in a T-shirt when it fired
Kate, above with her brother Brad, was shot dead while she walked on a downtown San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015 with her father
Garcia Zarate is charged with second-degree murder, which could result in a sentence of 15 years to life in prison if he is convicted.
He had recently completed a prison sentence for illegal re-entry to the US when he was transferred to the San Francisco County jail to face a 20-year-old marijuana charge.
Prosecutors dropped that charge and the San Francisco sheriff released Zarate from jail despite a federal immigration request to detain him for at least two more days for deportation.
The sheriff’s department said it was following the city’s sanctuary policy of limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Since being elected, Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities such as San Francisco, several of which have filed lawsuits to prevent the move.
Liz Sullivan, the mother of Kate Steinle (center) exits a courtroom with Steinle’s brother Brad Steinle (left) and his wife Amy (right) on Monday
Jim Steinle, the father of Kate Steinle, is pictured above walking into the courtroom on Monday for the first day of the murder trial
None of that is at issue during the trial, and the judge has barred mention of the politics of immigration and gun control during the proceedings.
Steinle’s family had tried to sue the city of San Francisco over her death but their wrongful death lawsuit was thrown out by a judge.
The Steinle family had argued in the lawsuit that the city and former sheriff should be held responsible for her murder.
Lawyers argued that if city officials had notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they released the seven-time felon from prison in April 2015, Kate’s death could have been avoided.
Garcia Zarate went by the name Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez when he was arrested, but now prefers to be called by his birth name of Zarate.
His murder trial continues.