San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen apologized to the mother of a 15-year-old shot and killed in her district in 2019 because she helped that man days after the killing.
The gunman, Fernando Madrigal, shot and killed Day’von Hann at 24th and Capp streets on July 8, 2019, in what federal authorities said was part of a gang feud between Norteños and their rivals in the Mission. Hann was mistakenly targeted, authorities said.
“In an awful twist of events, the man who later admitted to killing Day’von was someone I had previously tried to help,” Ronen said Tuesday before the Board of Supervisors and the victim’s mother, Sha’ray Johnson.
Ronen later explained in an interview with The Standard that she “wrote a letter a little to help someone too quickly without doing my due diligence” and that she “will never make that mistake again.”
Soon after the killing, Madrigal joined a rally on the steps of City Hall, along with Ronen and Hann’s mother, to call for an end to street violence. Madrigal, who said he renounced violence and the gang life, even embraced Hann’s mother at the event, Ronen said.
Madrigal was indicted in 2020 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for allegedly murdering Hann and another man and shooting a third victim who survived. Madrigal pleaded guilty in the case.
“I want to apologize to her. I want to apologize to Day’von,” an emotional Ronen said in her statement before the board, which was mostly aimed at Day’von’s mother.
Ronen said she helped Day’von’s mother find housing after meeting her at the painting of a mural after his death.
“We are reminded of Day’von today because the pain of his loss remains acute. It’s been four years, but it doesn’t feel like it,” Ronen said.
Hann was killed shortly after midnight on July 8, 2019, when Madrigal and a group of Norteños were confronting people near 24th and Capp streets, asking them where they were from, according to the indictment.
The Norteños claim the territory of 24th Street between Mission Street and Potrero Avenue, while their rivals at the time, the Army Street Gang, claimed an area south of 24th Street. Meanwhile, another enemy group, the Sureños, claimed territory to the north and west.
Hann lived in Army Street Gang territory at the Bernal Dwellings.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Madrigal entered a guilty plea in the racketeering case linked to Day’von Hann’s killing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office previously provided incorrect information on the status of the plea.