NBC Bay Area has learned that one of the three men charged with carrying out a murder with a police officer’s off-duty revolver was wearing an electronic monitor issued by United States immigration officials.
Data from that monitor confirms that the 18-year-old suspect was at the murder scene at the time of the slaying.
Erick Garcia-Pineda entered a not guilty plea Thursday to a litany of charges, including allegations that he murdered 23-year-old Abel Ezquivel on the street in the San Francisco’s Mission District early in the morning of Aug. 15. Two other defendants also denied the allegations, which include an allegation of murder during the commission of a robbery, which would trigger a term of life in prison without parole.
NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned that Garcia-Pineda is an undocumented immigrant and was wearing an ICE-issued electronic monitoring bracelet at the time of the slaying. Immigration officials did not immediately respond to NBC Bay Area’s requests for comment.
Read more at NBC Bay Area News.