Witnesses say they saw suspect leave S.F. pier after shooting
SAN FRANCISCO — Three tourists visiting San Francisco two years ago testified Tuesday that they saw a man — now charged with murder — on a popular pier moments after hearing a gunshot that killed a woman and reignited the national debate over illegal immigration.
All three witnesses were called to testify on the second day of the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a Mexican national who was arrested an hour after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot and killed on July 1, 2015, while walking with her father and a family friend.
Authorities say Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was recently released from jail before the shooting.
Marie Moreno and Aryn Carpenter, roommates who live in California’s Central Valley, were spending that night in a hotel overlooking the pier. They both testified that they heard the gunshot and ran to a window where they saw Garcia Zarate walking quickly from the pier.
They said he stood out because nearly everyone else was either looking around confused or running toward an adult who was down on the pier.
“He had a scowl on his face,” Moreno testified.
They said a woman who was walking away appeared to be calling 911.
Garcia Zarate has told police that he shot Steinle, but it was an accident that occurred when he picked up a T-shirt under a bench that was wrapped around the gun and it went off.
Prosecutors have charged him with murder and say he pointed the gun at Steinle and pulled the trigger.