Guilty verdict in beating death
A 60-year-old San Francisco man was found guilty Wednesday of beating his ex-girlfriend to death 2½ years ago inside her Mission District apartment.
Rickey Roberts was convicted of seconddegree murder and making criminal threats in the December 2015 killing of 60-year-old Olga Diaz Clark, who identified her killer shortly before falling unconscious and dying at San Francisco General Hospital.
“The family is very satisfied. They feel that justice has been served,” said Assistant District Attorney Sam Totah, who prosecuted the case.
The jury took two days to deliberate before reaching a verdict. Clark’s sister Anna and mother, Pearl, who uses a wheelchair, sat in the courtroom gallery as Wednesday’s verdict was read.
Roberts showed little reaction and said nothing. His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Phong Wang, placed her hand on Roberts’ back as the clerk read the verdict. She declined to speak outside court.
The beating happened as the final act in a months-long abusive relationship that Clark had attempted to break off. She even filed a restraining order against Roberts before the attack.
In the early morning of Dec. 13, 2015, prosecutors said, Roberts beat Clark and choked her unconscious before heading to his own downstairs unit at the complex on the 1800 block of 15th Street.
Clark eventually came to and walked to the lobby of her building where she called police. She identified her attacker to paramedics and police before falling into a coma and dying at the hospital.
Police said Roberts admitted attacking Clark, saying “she kept pushing me, so I just went off.” Roberts later denied beating her. His attorney argued that he pushed Clark in self-defense and her wounds were caused by her fall.
In the months before the attack, Roberts left a series of messages on Clark’s phone, threatening to kill her. In November 2014, he was arrested for attacking her, but the district attorney’s office declined to file charges after the victim stopped cooperating.
“This was a tragedy where obviously the jury provided some relief and accountability for the family and the community, but the reality is that we can never bring our victim back and our commitment is unwavering, but this is a very sad moment,” District Attorney George Gascón said.