A judge today dismissed a murder case against the 21-year-old who was accused of killing 18-year-old Damien González in a fatal shooting in August 2023 inside the Mission Recreation Center.
The prosecutor for the case filed a motion to dismiss charges pending further investigation, which a judge granted, and the suspect’s defense attorney cited a lack of evidence for the dropped murder charges.
“At this time, we are taking a first dismissal in this case to allow for further investigation that the San Francisco Police Department must complete prior to the preliminary hearing in this matter,” wrote San Francisco District Attorney’s office spokesperson Randy Quezada in a statement.
“This action does not impact our ability to refile charges at a later time, when the evidence has been received and assessed. The District Attorney’s Office is committed to fair and ethical prosecutions, and we must ensure that we can prove each charge filed, beyond a reasonable doubt, to the jury.”
Antonio Rodgers-Alcala, who has been in detention since he was arrested for suspected murder on Dec. 28, is expected to be released today. He had been charged with two counts of felony murder and carrying a loaded firearm in the Mission Rec case. Both were dismissed today.
“The investigation, in my opinion, was very shoddy and unprofessionally done,” said defense attorney Bill Fazio in an interview after the hearing. “They arrested Mr. Rodgers-Alcala before they had substantial evidence that he was involved in any wrongdoing, let alone a murder.”
González on the second floor of the Mission Rec Center when he was shot by a young man; he died on-scene on Aug. 18, according to his family. Fazio, citing a police report, said that González had been sitting alone on the bleachers while others played basketball, and that the assailant walked up to him and shot him four times.
González had graduated from Civic Center Secondary School the year before, volunteered regularly with the Latino Task Force and was awaiting a child with his pregnant girlfriend.
Fazio went on the offensive against the district attorney’s office, saying suspects are typically arrested only “after an investigation is completed” and implying Rodgers-Alcala was treated as if in a “third-world banana republic, where people are arrested and then they develop a case against them.”
“That’s what it appeared that they were doing to poor Mr. Rodgers-Alcala,” said Fazio, a private attorney who was hired by Rodgers-Alcala, in February and a former prosecutor who ran for the San Francisco district attorney four times in the 90s and early 2000s.
“Mr. Ford did the right thing,” Fazio added, referring to the prosecutor, Butch Ford. “[He] took the initiative and dismissed the charges on his own, rather than wasting the court’s time putting in a hearing where he now realizes there isn’t sufficient to cause him to continue to be held in custody.”
“I’m just happy my son’s home. Justice has been served,” said Rodgers-Alcala’s mom, who attended today’s hearing in the courtroom alongside the young man’s aunt. Both family members declined to share their names.
The mother and aunt stared at Rodgers-Alcala with slightly open-mouthed smiles as he arrived in the courtroom in his orange inmate jumpsuit. Rodgers-Alcala shyly avoided eye contact with them, instead clinking fists with attorney Lawrence Strauss, who represents Rodgers-Alcala in a separate armed-robbery case that took place two months before the August shooting. Before the hearing began, his two attorneys sandwiched him between them and talked for a while.
Fazio pointed out some discrepancies in the evidence that was originally cited by the inspector to convict Rodgers-Alcala. The Mission Rec shooter was identified as 5-feet-10-inches to 6-feet tall, while Rodgers-Alcala is shorter — around 5-feet-5-inches tall, according to Fazio.
Witnesses also said the Mission Rec suspect wore all-black clothing, while Rodgers-Alcala was wearing a pair of light blue jeans that day, according to Fazil. “The inspector did not include that information to the judge who issued the warrant. And I was going to grill him on that and argue that,” said Fazio.
The prosecutors also alleged that, shortly after the fatal shooting, Rodgers-Alcala was seen on surveillance camera being picked up two blocks away by his mother. Fazio said Rodgers-Alcala was there was because he was going to a class, and his mother was picking him up. Given the timing, he wasn’t able to shoot the victim five times at close range in front of three witnesses, as the prosecutors alleged, according to his defense attorney.
Attorney Strauss additionally asked the court to refer the prior armed-robbery case to young-adult court. For that earlier incident, Rodgers-Alcala was charged with multiple felonies, including burglary and carrying an unregistered loaded gun, after breaking into cars around Telegraph Hill with three juveniles. He was caught in the act and arrested. At the time of the August shooting, he was out on bail, awaiting his preliminary hearing.
Rodgers-Alcala’s mother said her son has put on a little weight in the past months because he’s been “eating all that bad food in there,” she said. And, she said, the family was considering a civil suit against the city.
“We will be taking, probably, legal matters after. We don’t have anything set,” said the mother. “I do want to acknowledge the family that lost their son, and I hope that they get their justice as well.”
This piece has been updated with a description of where Damien González sat at the time of the shooting.
Why did Chesa do this to us?
Huh. Chesa is long gone and nothing changes. All we got for that expensive recall was a stupid t-shirt.
If he’s a bad seed karma will take care of him. Kids like this don’t live long productive lives.