Man convicted of killing Afghan refugee working as Uber / Lyft driver in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – A jury in San Francisco convicted a man of first-degree murder in the 2021 killing of an Afghan refugee who was working as a driver for Uber and Lyft.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office announced Friday that 39-year-old Clifford Stokes was found guilty in the deadly shooting of Ahmad Fawad Yusufi. The jury also found Stokes guilty of robbery, attempted robbery, shooting into an occupied vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm
.According to prosecutors, on the morning of November 28, 2021, Yusufi and his passenger were parked near the intersection of Potrero Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street when Stokes pulled up next to them. Stokes then pointed a handgun at Yusufi and his passenger, demanding money.
"My brother tried to move his body to get the wallet and everything for him. Then he shot him. Exactly in the heart," Mohammad Dawood, the victim's brother, told KPIX after the shooting.
Prosecutors said that Stokes shot and killed Yusufi before he was able to give over his property.
Stokes was arrested in Oakland on December 16, 2021 and has been in custody ever since.
"Stokes' callous, unprovoked killing of an unarmed man during a robbery is heartbreaking and specifically the type of violent crime that we must prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," Jenkins said in a statement Friday. "This verdict delivers justice for Mr. Yusufi's family and a wake-up call to perpetrators; we as a community reject violence and will ensure that perpetrators face consequences."
Yusufi's family told KPIX served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan for nine years but fled the country as American forces began pulling out.
In 2018, Yusufi relocated his family to Sacramento. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Prosecutors said Stokes faces 50 years to life in prison for Yusufi's murder. A sentencing date has not been announced.
