A sex worker who shot and killed a man at Crissy Field in 2023 was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Monday. The man had become angry after the sex worker revealed she is trans.
Following a two-week trial, a federal jury determined that Leniyah Butler, 21, shot Hamza Walupupu, 32, once in the eye on Nov. 12, 2023, after he demanded a refund for oral sex she had performed and asked her to get out of his car. Though the jury found Butler guilty of manslaughter, it acquitted her of murder in the second degree.
Prosecutors presented evidence showing that Butler stole Walupupu’s car following the shooting, drove it to Hunters Point, and attempted to remove fingerprints and DNA from the vehicle. She then spent the morning disposing of evidence, including the weapon used in the killing.
According to the San Francisco Fire Department, emergency dispatchers received a call shortly after 6:30 a.m. about a person in the parking lot at 1199 East Beach St.
U.S. Park Police officers and firefighters declared Walupupu dead at the scene.
Walupupu had approached Butler earlier on the day of the shooting at an undisclosed San Francisco location about 20 minutes away, according to court filings detailing Butler’s statement to law enforcement.
Butler asked Walupupu if he wanted a date, and he responded that he wanted “everything.” After agreeing on a price, Butler got into Walupupu’s car so he could stop at an ATM. She told him she wanted to pull over close to where he had picked her up, but instead, they went to Crissy Field, seeking privacy.
Once at Crissy Field, Butler performed oral sex on Walupupu. When he said he wanted more, she told him she was transgender. He demanded his money back and told her to get out of his car.
Butler said she felt disrespected by him and refused to get out of his vehicle because she would be “stranded cold as fuck.” She asked him to take her back to where they had met, but instead, he tried to get out of the car. At that point, Butler shot him in the head with a gun she was carrying.
Investigators linked Butler to the killing after reviewing surveillance video that showed a car associated with Walupupu leaving the park around the time of the shooting.
Three days later, the car was found abandoned in Hunters Point, and video surveillance showed a person, identified as Butler, parking the vehicle, wiping it down with “a clothing item or towel” and making several trips to another car that arrived, the criminal complaint stated.
Further investigation connected Butler to the second vehicle, and cellphone data allegedly placed her in the areas where Walupupu was killed and where the car was abandoned, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Butler was arrested Nov. 18, 2023.
“We extend our sincere condolences to the victim’s family, whose son and brother was taken from them prematurely, and hope today’s verdict brings some measure of justice,” acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said in a statement.
When reached by phone Monday, Shaffy Moeel, an attorney for Butler, declined to comment on the verdict.
Butler, who remains in custody, faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus potential restitution. She is scheduled to be sentenced June 27.