Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Time Served for Mexican Charged in 2015 Kate Steinle Killing on Embarcadero
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
June 7, 2022

Share

 

A California federal judge on Monday sentenced the Mexican man acquitted of murder in the 2015 shooting death of a woman on a San Francisco pier to the seven years he’s already spent in jail — bringing to a legal close the case that ignited a national firestorm over immigration, crime and sanctuary cities.

Jose Inez Garcia Zarate was in the U.S. illegally when Kate Steinle, 32, was fatally shot along a crowded Pier 14 where she was walking with her father and a family friend. He faces deportation and U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria told him in court to never return to the U.S.

The shooting shocked a country already divided over immigration and fueled Donald Trump’s successful campaign for president. Trump called for a crackdown on unlawful immigration and the sanctuary cities and states — including San Francisco and California — that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Garcia Zarate admitted firing the gun on July 4, 2015, but said he found it under a bench and didn’t know what it was when he picked it up because it was wrapped in a T-shirt. The gun fired accidentally after he picked it up, he said. Officials said the bullet ricocheted off the ground and hit Steinle.

He was acquitted of homicide charges by a San Francisco jury in 2017 but faced firearms charges in federal court. In March, he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and a person illegally in the country in possession of a firearm.

“If you return to this country again and you are back in front of me, I will not spare you. Let this be your last warning: do not return to this country,” Chhabria said before sentencing Garcia Zarate to the time he has already served.

Chhabria also delivered a harsh rebuke of the mental health treatment received by Garcia Zarate for his schizophrenia while in custody, which the judge said was virtually nonexistent.

Garcia Zarate will be sent to Texas, where he faces a federal judge for failing to report his location when he was released from a San Francisco jail shortly before the shooting. He had been deported five times and was on track to be removed from the U.S. again when he shot Steinle.

The maximum sentence on the firearms charges was 10 years. Prosecutors agreed to the sentence of time served plus three years of probation. Garcia Zarate’s lawyers wanted a shorter sentence so he could apply any time left over in case the judge in Texas imposes additional prison time.

The handgun belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger who reported it stolen from his parked car a week before Steinle was killed.

Before the killing, Garcia Zarate had recently completed a prison sentence for illegal re-entry to the U.S. when he was transferred to San Francisco to face a 20-year-old marijuana charge.

Prosecutors declined the case, but the San Francisco sheriff released him from jail despite a federal immigration request to detain him for at least two more days for deportation.

Garcia Zarate “feels horrible about what happened, and that he’s very sorry and apologizes,” his lawyer, Mike Hinckley, said in court Monday.

The judge said he does not believe that prosecutors proved that Garcia Zarate had acted with criminal recklessness in the shooting and that he likely did not understand what was happening that day when he killed Steinle, because of his mental health illness.

Chhabria also expressed sympathy for Garcia Zarate, who spent most of his seven years in county jail without medication or meaningful treatment.

Two doctors diagnosed Garcia Zarate with schizophrenia and found him unfit to stand trial because he could not follow the court proceedings.

“That must have been hell,” Chhabria said.

But the judge also said that consequences matter and that Garcia Zarate admitted being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Steinle’s relatives were not present in court for the sentencing and prosecutors said her family did not want to participate in the proceedings.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Did State Supreme Court Decide on Defamation Suit Against Assemblymember Soria?

DON'T MISS

Two Months to Count Election Ballots? California’s Long Tallies Turn Election Day Into Weeks, Months

DON'T MISS

Pennsylvania Nurse Who Gave Patients Lethal or Possibly Lethal Insulin Doses Gets Life in Prison

DON'T MISS

Merced’s Treacherous ‘Tunnel Lane’ Removed from Northbound Highway 99

DON'T MISS

US Employers Scaled Back Hiring in April. How That Could Let the Fed Cut Interest Rates

DON'T MISS

Bulldog Football Outlook: More Explosive Offense, a Potential Game-Wrecker on Defense

DON'T MISS

Over 2,300 Arrested in Pro-Palestinian Protests

DON'T MISS

See How Valley Lawmakers Voted on a Bill That Chills Free Speech

DON'T MISS

Meet Goldie Hawn: The Adorable Yorkie with a Heart of Gold

DON'T MISS

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

UP NEXT

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

UP NEXT

Californians Are Protecting Themselves from Wildfire. Why Is There an Insurance Crisis?

UP NEXT

Campaign to Build New California City Submits Signatures to Get on November Ballot

UP NEXT

Study Says California’s 2023 Snowy Megadrought Rescue Was a Freak Event

UP NEXT

California’s Population Grew in 2023, Halting 3 Years of Decline

UP NEXT

California is Joining with a New Jersey Company to Buy a Generic Opioid Overdose Reversal Drug

UP NEXT

California Officials Debate Prop. 47 Changes to Curb Crime. On the Street, Answers Aren’t That Simple.

UP NEXT

LA Judge Deals a Blow to Law Allowing Duplexes in Single-Family Tracts

UP NEXT

Dozens Arrested at USC After Students in Texas Detained as Gaza War Protests Persist

UP NEXT

New California Rule Aims to Limit Health Care Cost Increases to 3% Annually

Merced’s Treacherous ‘Tunnel Lane’ Removed from Northbound Highway 99

2 hours ago

US Employers Scaled Back Hiring in April. How That Could Let the Fed Cut Interest Rates

2 hours ago

Bulldog Football Outlook: More Explosive Offense, a Potential Game-Wrecker on Defense

3 hours ago

Over 2,300 Arrested in Pro-Palestinian Protests

3 hours ago

See How Valley Lawmakers Voted on a Bill That Chills Free Speech

6 hours ago

Meet Goldie Hawn: The Adorable Yorkie with a Heart of Gold

6 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

16 hours ago

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

Entertainment /

19 hours ago

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Video /

19 hours ago

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

20 hours ago

What Did State Supreme Court Decide on Defamation Suit Against Assemblymember Soria?

The California Supreme Court denied an appeal from Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, who is defending herself from a defamation lawsuit by a F...

12 mins ago

12 mins ago

What Did State Supreme Court Decide on Defamation Suit Against Assemblymember Soria?

1 hour ago

Two Months to Count Election Ballots? California’s Long Tallies Turn Election Day Into Weeks, Months

1 hour ago

Pennsylvania Nurse Who Gave Patients Lethal or Possibly Lethal Insulin Doses Gets Life in Prison

2 hours ago

Merced’s Treacherous ‘Tunnel Lane’ Removed from Northbound Highway 99

2 hours ago

US Employers Scaled Back Hiring in April. How That Could Let the Fed Cut Interest Rates

3 hours ago

Bulldog Football Outlook: More Explosive Offense, a Potential Game-Wrecker on Defense

3 hours ago

Over 2,300 Arrested in Pro-Palestinian Protests

6 hours ago

See How Valley Lawmakers Voted on a Bill That Chills Free Speech

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend