Pair who killed photographer on San Francisco's Twin Peaks in 2017 sentenced to life in prison
Seven years after a photographer was killed during a robbery on San Francisco's Twin Peaks, two people convicted in his murder have been sentenced to life in prison.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office announced Friday that 27-year-old Fantasy Decuir and 27-year-old Lamonte Mims received life without the possibility of parole for the July 16, 2017 killing of 71-year-old Ed French.
"They often say justice delayed is justice denied, but not in this case," Jenkins said in a statement. "I am grateful to the victim's friends and family who have stood with us over the years as we fought for justice."
Both Decuir and Mims were found guilty in September of first-degree murder with special circumstances. Decuir was also convicted of second-degree robbery.
According to testimony presented at trial, French went to the popular tourist spot with his new camera, a Canon Mark III DSLR, during the morning hours. As he took photographs, Mims and Decuir approached French at gunpoint.
During a struggle in which Mims attempted to pull the camera bag away from French, Decuir shot the victim through his heart and right lung. Following the shooting, Mims pulled the camera bag and kicked the victim while he was on the ground.
Prosecutors said the pair attempted to sell the stolen camera in the area of 7th and Market streets an hour after the shooting.
French was a commercial location scout with close ties to the film community.
"When it's someone you know it just really hits home," Susannah Greason Robbins of the SF Film Commission told CBS News Bay Area shortly after French was killed.
Robbins described the victim as a witty, artistic soul.
Decuir and Mims were arrested on July 28, 2017, after they robbed a pair of tourists of a camera and credit cards at gunpoint near Cathedral Hill, according to the DA's office.
"Although nothing will truly heal the anguish caused by this callous senseless murder, we are relieved that Ms. Decuir and Mr. Mims will not be able to hurt anyone else in our community ever again," Assistant District Attorney Heather Trevisan said. "I would like to thank Mr. French's family for their support and patience throughout this case and the jurors who carefully weighed all of the evidence and rendered a just verdict."
