San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins will not pursue a murder case against Daveon Crawford, an 18-year-old Sacramento man arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man last week near the Powell Street BART Station.
District Attorney’s Office spokesman Randy Quezada said in a statement Wednesday that authorities were still investigating the shooting but that there was not enough evidence to charge Crawford with murder.
Ataviayan Barfield, 21, was pronounced dead last Thursday evening after being rushed to the hospital from the scene of the shooting at Market and Powell streets, across the street from the Westfield San Francisco Centre. Police responded to reports of gunshots ringing out near the mall at 8:39 p.m.
Officers arrested Crawford after witnesses reported spotting a male suspect who matched his description with a female companion a short distance away near Eighth and Mission streets, police said in a statement.
Authorities booked Crawford on suspicion of murder at San Francisco County Jail. The girl, a minor who was not charged, was released into a guardian’s custody.
The killing comes on the heels of a series of high-profile shootings in San Francisco, most recently an early evening incident on Father’s Day that injured six people near Fisherman’s Wharf. Last Friday, Jenkins declined to file charges against a suspect in that shooting. San Francisco has had 23 confirmed homicides so far in 2023, up slightly over the same time last year.