Real estate heiress who posted $35M bail acquitted of murder

SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco Bay Area real estate heiress who was under house arrest on $35 million bail for more than two years plans to reconnect with her children and visit family in China after a jury acquitted her of killing the father of her kids, her attorney said Friday.

After deliberating for 12 days, jurors found Tiffany Li not guilty on charges of murder and conspiring with her boyfriend, codefendant Kaveh Bayat, to kill 27-year-old Keith Green in 2016 over a custody dispute.

The case drew global attention when Li’s family, who made a fortune in real estate construction in China, posted one of the highest bail amounts on record in the United States.

Li wept Friday as the verdicts were read and rushed out of the building afterward. Jurors deadlocked on murder and conspiracy charges against Bayat.

Attorney Geoffrey Carr said Li plans to travel to see family in China and strengthen her relationship with her children. She plans on bettering herself as a person, he said.

“Any time any defendant is found not guilty in a serious crime, they’re (given) a gift by somebody — I don’t believe in God, but somebody — and they should pay attention,” Carr said.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said jurors gave “their heart and soul” to the decision.

Prosecutors said Li lured Green, her former boyfriend, to her mansion in Hillsborough, south of San Francisco, to discuss custody of their children. They say Bayat shot Green in the mouth and a friend disposed of the body.