Suspects found guilty in 2017 San Francisco Twin Peaks murder of photographer
By J.R. Stone
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (KGO) — There’s relief for the family of San Francisco photographer Ed French, who was murdered at Twin Peaks back in 2017. Two people arrested in his shooting were just convicted of the crime Thursday.
The verdict comes after a years-long legal journey.
The murder shook the city, especially after the revelation that one of the suspects had been released from police custody just days before the 2017 shooting at Twin Peaks.
A trial last year ended in robbery convictions for both suspects, but they were just re-tried for the photographer’s murder this year and found guilty on Thursday.
“Pretty emotional for me. We’ve been fighting seven years and finally justice, it should never take this long,” said Lorrie French, reacting to the guilty verdict that came down from a jury on Thursday in her brother Ed’s killing in 2017.
“It’s on film, there was no question that they murdered him. For it to take seven years of my life and all his friends and families lives to finally get justice… I don’t know something is wrong with the system, something is very wrong with the system,” said French.
Ed French, 71, was killed as he took pictures of the then-under-construction Salesforce Tower on that Sunday morning at Twin Peaks.
Thursday, a San Francisco jury found Fantasy Decuir and Lamonte Mims guilty. In a statement, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins says, “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.”
French says the surveillance video of the crime that was shown in court is still painful to watch.
“And she pulls out the gun and shoots him, she shoots him straight in the heart. They start to run, and Mims turns around, comes back and grabs the camera bag off a dying man, and then before he leaves, he kicks him,” said French.
When the jury read the verdict, Lorrie says she was in tears. While the two have been in jail for some time, she says she wants them in prison for what they did. We asked her about their sentencing in December.
“Will you be here for that?” asked ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone.
“You’re damn right I will, for sure!” said Lorrie.
“He’s looking at me saying, ‘Sis why did you waste your time? I’m not coming back.’ That’s what he is saying to me and I know that but you know what I had to, I had to find justice for him. It meant everything. I’m 84, it meant everything in my life to me to get justice for him and finally now I can die in peace,” said Lorrie French.
This is the full statement issued by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins:
“I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial. 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. I would like to thank the friends and family of the victim for their trust and faith in my office and the criminal justice system to deliver justice in this case. While this family had to wait far too long, I am relieved that the system was able to deliver justice to them.”
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