Alleged Gang Member Appears In Court In San Mateo Arson Murder Case
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A 26-year-old alleged gang member made his initial court appearance Tuesday to face murder and arson charges for setting a fire last week at a San Mateo home that targeted gang rivals but ended up killing an 85-year-old woman, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Fifita Tau, an East Palo Alto resident, is charged in the death of Susana Tonga, 85, in a fire reported at 4:26 a.m. on Feb. 19 at a home in the 100 block of South Humboldt Street, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.
Firefighters helped four people get out of the home and two others from a detached garage, but were told one person, Tonga, was unaccounted for. Crews went back in to pull her from the burning home and performed CPR, but she did not survive.
Fire investigators found an accelerant near the front of the home but haven't released detailed information about it.
Tau was apparently angry at members of a gang in San Mateo for violence against people in another local gang, and went to the South Humboldt Street residence mistakenly thinking the gang members lived there. He set fire to the home, not realizing it was the home of Tonga, not the gang members themselves, according to the district attorney's office.
He did not enter a plea at his initial hearing Tuesday, and will return to court on March 5. The special circumstances of the murder involving arson and gang allegations mean Tau could face a potential death penalty or life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.
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