San Francisco police investigators are once again asking the public for help solving the 2006 murder of Aubrey Abrakasa Jr., the 17-year-old shot to death at the intersection of Grove and Baker Streets. His mother, Paulette Brown, will mark the anniversary tomorrow at 3 PM with an event recognizing homicide victims at the same intersection where her son died, and SFPD investigators plan to attend.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, the department is offering up to $250,000 for information leading to the filing of criminal charges in eligible homicide and cold-case investigations, including Abrakasa's. Tipsters may remain anonymous, and people with prior arrests or convictions may still be eligible for the reward, per the department's outreach. Tips can be submitted by phone at 415-575-4444 or by text to TIP411 with a message beginning with “SFPD.”
Investigators are seeking assistance in solving the 2006 murder of Aubrey Abrakasa Jr., who was shot multiple times and killed at the intersection of Grove and Baker Streets.
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) August 13, 2026
Aubrey's mother, Paulette Brown, has been a tireless advocate for her son and for the families of other… pic.twitter.com/MzkziOJuv1
Abrakasa was fatally shot 12 times in the back, part of roughly 30 rounds fired from a vehicle, after he shouted “Run!” to warn nearby bystanders that gunmen were approaching, according to KQED. The daytime shooting happened at 3:14 p.m. on August 14, 2006, in front of a preschool at Grove and Baker streets, the outlet reported. At the time, Abrakasa was an upcoming high school senior who played guard on his school's basketball team and worked as a youth counselor and assistant coach at the Bernal Heights Recreation Center, and police have confirmed he had no criminal or gang record, according to SFist's coverage cited in the case file.
A Theory of Motive That's Never Led to Charges
In 2016, then-Interim Police Chief Toney Chaplin publicly said investigators believed members of a Western Addition street gang known as the Central Division Players carried out the shooting after Abrakasa alerted their intended targets to flee, per KQED's reporting. Law enforcement emphasized at the time that Abrakasa himself had no gang involvement. As early as 2009, SFGATE reported that then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, the District Attorney, and SFPD investigators said they already knew the identity of the killer but lacked sufficient witness testimony to make an arrest — a gap that, according to the available reporting, has never been publicly resolved with charges.
That standoff between what investigators say they know and what they can prove in court sits at the center of the case two decades later. Newsom met with Brown after her persistent demonstrations outside City Hall, SFGATE reported at the time.
A Mother's Two-Decade Campaign
For nearly two decades, Brown has regularly attended weekly San Francisco Police Commission meetings, holding up photos of her son to press city officials on unsolved homicide cases, according to The SF Standard. Her advocacy has extended beyond public testimony: she partnered with SFPD's Homicide Detail and Crime Strategies Division to launch digital poster boards inside police district station lobbies displaying active homicide reward bulletins, the department said in a statement.
That sustained pressure helped push city leaders toward a significant policy shift. In 2024, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation, co-authored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, amending the Administrative Code to allow homicide reward payouts once criminal charges are filed rather than only after a conviction, while also opening eligibility to tipsters with prior criminal records or those who wish to stay anonymous, per the same account cited by KTVU.
The reform addresses a problem the city's own records exposed. Filings analyzed in 2022 and again in 2025 showed SFPD had not disbursed a single homicide tip reward since 2013, despite offering millions of dollars across more than 170 open cases, the SF Standard reported, noting that strict eligibility rules had previously shut out anonymous tipsters and people with criminal histories.
A Street Renamed, A Case Still Cold
In December 2024, San Francisco officially renamed the 1500 block of Grove Street “Aubrey Abrakasa Jr. Street” in his memory, a change unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors, according to CBS News. The renaming stands as a formal civic acknowledgment of a case that remains unsolved nearly two decades after the killing.
Abrakasa's death is one entry in a much larger regional toll. Bay Area counties recorded 2,374 gun homicides between 2014 and 2022, out of roughly 12,800 statewide, according to data from the Hope and Heal Fund reported by CBS News. Friday's gathering at Grove and Baker Streets, attended by SFPD investigators alongside Brown, functions as more than a memorial — it is part of an ongoing push to get reluctant witnesses to finally come forward under the city's newly expanded reward rules.
Hoodline first profiled the case in a 2013 look at the unsolved killing, when Brown was also pressing for state gun control legislation. Anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or by texting TIP411 with a message starting with “SFPD.”
