Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of a group homicide on Page and Laguna, with no arrests or suspects behind bars.
On January 9th 2015, four young men—Yalani Chinyamurindi, Harith Atchan, David Saucier and Manuel O’Neal—were shot to death in a car at the intersection of Page and Laguna.
Later that month, clues led investigators to a Walnut Creek rental car, supposedly used by the perpetrators as an escape vehicle. Despite this lead, no arrests have been made.
At a meeting with neighborhood reporters in September, Chief Suhr stated that SFPD thought they knew who the shooters were—but were still working on establishing a case with the District Attorney's office, and gathering evidence that would put them behind bars.
Four months later, nothing appears to have stuck. "The case is still open and there is nothing new," the SFPD told us this week.
As an added incentive to cracking the case, Supervisor London Breed is introducing a piece of legislation that would offer a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
"I'm really hoping this could help in this particular case" she told us. "It's been frustrating. The District Attorney and SFPD should be working together on this, and aggressively going after folks responsible. Getting violent criminals off the streets is a big priority."
This crime also hits home on a personal level for Breed, who grew up in the neighborhood where the shooting took place. One of the mothers of the murdered men was a childhood playmate of hers. The community's need for answers is one that she feels acutely.
"Mothers deserve closure," Breed said. "Why are these kids not a priority, to bring some level of closure to the situation?"
Sala-Haquekyah Chandler speaking at a Mario Woods rally in December (Photo: Eric Louie/Flickr)
In the year since the murders took place, the mothers of the victims have become vocal advocates for solving unsolved murders. Sala-Haquekyah Chandler, Yalani Chinyamurindi's mother, claims that her son had no gang involvement and was in the car by unfortunate chance. These days she can regularly be seen and heard at City Hall and Police Commission meetings, often accompanied with Paulette Brown, the mother of Aubrey Abrakasa, another unsolved murder victim.
In an interview with Mission Local last year, Chandler said that she sees this type of violent crime being treated as normal. "We are losing our children, we are losing our sheroes and heroes,” she said. “And everybody is walking by like everything is fine."
"We have to do better, and be aggressive," said Breed.
The legislation for reward money will go up for vote be introduced at the SF Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. We'll let you know if the vote, which would take place at a later date, passes.
The public is encouraged to contact SFPD anonymously with information on this homicide at 415-575-4444, or text-a-tip to TIP411.
