A federal judge sentenced Johnny Jameson to 27 months in prison for illegally possessing ammunition, closing out a case that grew out of the December 23, 2024 shooting death of Patrick “Project” Riley and Riley's dog Cookie on Selby Street in Bayview. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston handed down the sentence, rejecting a federal prosecutor's request for 33 months. Jameson was never charged for the shooting itself in San Francisco County, but the ammunition tied to his DNA became the basis for the federal case against him.
According to The Mercury News, court records say Jameson used the ammunition to kill Riley and Cookie. Jameson's defense told a different story of what happened between the two men before shots were fired. According to a defense sentencing memo cited by the Mercury News, Jameson and Riley had been seen talking in a parked car and spent about an hour together without any problems before things escalated. The memo states that one of Riley's dogs bit Jameson in the leg, and Jameson's lawyers argued that Riley then brandished a rifle, prompting Jameson to fire his own gun in what they characterized as self-defense.
Riley, 44, had been living in an RV on Selby Street near Evans Avenue with his partner, Amelia Mustain, according to photographer Robert Gumpert's documentation of unhoused San Franciscans, part of his long-running Say Their Name project. Riley had relocated to that stretch of Selby Street after a Jerrold Street RV encampment was closed in early 2022, per Gumpert's account. San Francisco police opened a homicide investigation under Case #240787296 after officers responded at 3:05 PM on December 23, 2024, to reports of a shooting at Selby and Toland streets; officers rendered aid before paramedics took Riley to a hospital, where he died, according to Gumpert's reporting drawn from the police response.
DNA in an Abandoned Getaway Car
Jameson fled the scene in a Honda that broke down less than a mile away, where police seized a box of ammunition containing his DNA, according to the same defense-side account referenced by the Mercury News in its sentencing coverage. In July 2025, San Francisco prosecutors filed separate local charges against Jameson for unlawful possession of ammunition tied to the case, even as federal prosecutors pursued their own ammunition charge, according to San Francisco News. That dual-track approach — local charges evaluated alongside a federal prosecution — reflects how the two systems moved on parallel paths after the shooting.
Jameson's criminal history factored heavily into the federal case. Court records show he has eight prior felony convictions, including a 2019 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), a statute the Legal Information Institute notes carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A 2019 federal detention order noted Jameson was on supervised release during prior offenses, according to federal court records from the Northern District of California.
Prosecutors Wanted More, Judge Went Lower
A federal prosecutor argued at sentencing that Jameson remains a danger to the community, but Illston's 27-month sentence landed below the 33 months prosecutors sought and well under the 48 to 60 months that make up the national median for standard federal ammunition and firearms cases, according to data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Federal inmates must serve at least 85% of their sentence since federal prison has no parole, per the same sentencing data. Roughly 98% of people convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) receive prison time nationally, underscoring how far below typical outcomes Jameson's sentence fell.
Jameson's sentencing memo included letters of support, and the mitigation case leaned heavily on his conduct while incarcerated. He spent time reading the Bible and took parenting classes during his time in custody, and his longtime romantic partner said he became more thoughtful about his life during that period. Jameson also reflected on the kind of father and man he wants to be, according to the sentencing memo. His partner told the court that his absence during incarceration has been incredibly difficult for their family.
Hoodline first reported on the homicide investigation in the days after the shooting, when San Francisco police were still working to piece together what happened at Selby and Toland streets. No one has been charged with killing Riley or his dog, and the federal ammunition case remains the only criminal resolution to date in a shooting that took the life of a man who had spent years navigating the city's unhoused community.
