New Details Emerge In Hayes Valley Quadruple Homicide

New Details Emerge In Hayes Valley Quadruple HomicidePhoto: Rose Garrett/Hoodline
Rose Garrett
Published on September 29, 2016

Two months after police made their first arrest in a drive-by shooting that left four young men dead, an arrest warrant and affidavit obtained by the Examiner has shed some new light on the killings, which took place at the corner of Page & Laguna on the night of January 9th, 2015.

As SFPD has long suspected, the shooting arose out of gang-related tensions between the "Page Street" gang and the "Mac Block" gang, with which three of the four victims—Manuel O’Neal, Harith Atchan, and David Saucier—were allegedly affiliated.

It's unclear how the fourth victim, Yalani Chinyamurindi, came to be involved. Some accounts indicate he may have been on break from work at Benihana when he went to go cash a check, then jumped in the car with friends to avoid being late.

The parents of several of the victims said they had gone to the area to “air it out” with Page Street gang members—meaning, according to police, that they planned to shoot them. (The Examiner notes that two pistols were found in the stolen Honda Civic occupied by the victims.)

Instead, it seems, their targets struck first, raking the young men's Honda Civic with bullets, then speeding off in a rental car, which police traced to a Hertz in Walnut Creek. All four victims sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

In addition to Lee Farley, who was charged in the killings this summer, the affidavit described at least two other suspects who are known to police, but have yet to be arrested because police need additional witnesses to come forward.

Earlier this month, SFPD announced a $250,000 reward for any information that proves helpful, in an attempt to "bring healing and justice to the victims’ families."

Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact Sergeant Sanders or Sergeant Discenza of the SFPD Homicide detail at (415)-553-1145, or after hours at the Department Operations Center at (415)-553-1071. You can also contact the anonymous SFPD tip line at (415)-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the text with "SFPD."