SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a man charged in a fatal shooting on a San Francisco pier that touched off a national debate on illegal immigration. (all times local):
5 p.m.
Roommates from California’s Central Valley who spent a night in a San Francisco waterfront hotel two years ago told a jury about watching a man walk quickly from a pier moments after they heard a gunshot.
They both identified the man as defendant Jose Ines Garcia Zarate.
The roommates were called as witnesses Tuesday, the second day of trial for Garcia Zarate, who is charged in the fatal shooting of Kate Steinle.
Her death touched off a national debate on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities after it was learned that Garcia Zarate had been deported five times.
Marie Moreno and Aryn Carpenter said they were relaxing in their room overlooking the pier on July 1, 2015, when they heard the gunshot and ran to a window.
They both testified that nearly everyone was looking around confused or running toward an adult lying on the pier. One woman appeared to call 911.
Trial continues Wednesday.
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11:30 a.m.
Jurors are hearing from a tourist who took photos of the Mexican man accused of fatally shooting a woman on a San Francisco pier two years ago. The shooting stoked the U.S. immigration debate during last year’s presidential campaign.
Michelle Lo testified Tuesday in the murder trial Jose Ines Garcia Zarate.
She says she noticed Garcia Zarate as she walked along a San Francisco pier because he was spinning around in a chair.
Three photos she took captured images of Garcia Zarate and victim Kate Steinle.
They show Garcia Zarate, dressed in black, sitting on the chair and Steinle with her back to the camera.
Lo testified that moments later she heard a bang and saw Steinle on the ground.
Lo says she did not notice whether Garcia Zarate held anything in his hands.
Steinle’s death touched off a debate on illegal immigration and so-called sanctuary cities because Garcia Zarate had been deported five times.
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12 a.m.:
Prosecutors called the father of Kate Steinle as their first witness in the murder trial of the man charged with fatally shooting his daughter in San Francisco two years ago.
With his lower-lip quivering with emotion and a packed courtroom hanging on every word, Jim Steinle recounted the final moments of his daughter’s life as they took a summer evening stroll on a San Francisco pier on July 1, 2015.
The elder Steinle said he heard a loud bang, and his daughter collapsed in his arms, asking him for help. She was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
Her death touched off a debate on illegal immigration because Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, the man charged with murder for her death, had been deported five times.
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