A woman and a man were convicted Thursday of first-degree murder for the 2017 shooting of a San Francisco photographer on Twin Peaks, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Friday.
It was the second time Fantasy Decuir and Lamonte Mims, both 27, were tried for killing 71-year-old Ed French on July 16, 2017. A jury deadlocked in 2023 without reaching a verdict.
“It took seven years to get justice for a murder that was on film that there was no question about — that’s unacceptable,” said Lorrie French, the victim’s sister. Still, she commended the prosecutors and jurors.
According to evidence presented at trial, French was taking photographs at the scenic lookout with a new camera when Decuir and Mims approached and robbed him at gunpoint. Surveillance footage shows Decuir shooting French through the heart and right lung as Mims struggles to take the camera bag.
Decuir was also convicted Thursday of second-degree robbery with a firearm enhancement.
“The jury’s verdict holds Ms. Decuir and Mr. Mims accountable for the cold-blooded murder of an elder in our community doing what he loved to do the morning he was killed in 2017,” Jenkins said in a statement.
According to San Francisco Public Safety News, the pair tried to sell the stolen camera in SoMa the day of the shooting before dining with two friends at Benihana in Burlingame.
They were later identified and arrested after committing another armed robbery of tourists at St. Mary’s Cathedral on July 28, 2017.
French, who was born and raised in the city, was “Mr. San Francisco,” according to his sister.
“He loved this city,” Lorrie French told The Standard by phone. “He was dedicated. He was a good, loving person. He would help anybody. He was a giver, and he was funny, and he was knowledgeable, and he was my buddy.”
Sentencing for Decuir and Mims is scheduled for Dec. 6. Both remain in custody.
Jenkins acknowledged the French family’s seven-year wait for a resolution in the case. “While this family had to wait far too long, I am relieved that the system was able to deliver justice to them,” she said.