Man sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for 2019 murder of co-worker in San Francisco
An El Cerrito man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering his coworker in San Francisco in 2019, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Monday that 25-year-old Hakim Oden pled guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of 19-year-old Taiepisi Gutu.
"While nothing we do can bring the victim back, I hope that this outcome brings a measure of closure and healing to his friends and family," Jenkins said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Gutu was killed on March 25, 2019, his 19th birthday and his first day on the job at a San Francisco Conservation Corps (SFCC) building on the 200 block of 13th Street in the Mission District. On that day, he met Oden, who was sent to SFCC after committing a robbery in 2016.
As he was waiting in his car outside the SFCC building, prosecutors said Oden "appeared motivated by jealousy" when he saw the victim with a woman that he was interested in.
Prosecutors said he followed them into the building, with his hood up and his hand in his pocket. He then walked up behind Gutu and shot him in the back of the head. According to reports at the time, the victim died from his injuries at the hospital.
Following the shooting, Oden sped out of the parking lot and fled San Francisco to Southern California. He was eventually apprehended following a shootout with CHP officers in Riverside County, near the Arizona border.
"No mother, sister, aunt, cousin, family member or friend deserves to learn that their loved one was murdered on their 19th birthday, especially in a cowardly execution from behind while simply waiting for an elevator," Assistant District Attorney Charly Weissenbach said.
Along with the murder sentence, Oden was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2016 robbery case that was pending at the time of the murder. The sentence will run concurrently.