Woman Accused Of Pulling Trigger In Twin Peaks Robbery, Homicide
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A 20-year-old San Francisco woman is accused of pulling the trigger in a fatal shooting and robbery at San Francisco's Twin Peaks lookout last month.
Prosecutors in court Tuesday said Fantasy Decuir shot Edward French, 71, while robbing him of his camera at the Twin Peaks lookout around 7:50 a.m. on July 16.
She is charged with murder, robbery and use of a firearm in a crime in connection with that case along with her alleged accomplice, 19-year-old Patterson resident Lamonte Mims, who allegedly participated in the armed robbery and aided and abetted Decuir.
Mims made his first appearance in court Tuesday in the case, but prosecutors said Decuir was unable to attend because she was at an East Bay hospital for treatment of an undisclosed health condition. Both will return to court on Friday for arraignment.
The pair were first arrested on Thursday in connection with another armed robbery, in which a man and woman were robbed of a camera and wallet at gunpoint on July 28 at St. Mary's Cathedral Square, before investigators linked them to the previous Twin Peaks homicide.
Mims, who has previous convictions and arrests for auto burglary and receiving stolen goods and was on probation at the time of the shooting, had previously been ordered to stay away from the Twin Peaks area.
He was taken into custody again earlier this year on a weapons charge, but released on July 11 under the auspices of a pretrial diversion program. Prosecutors had moved to revoke his bail at that time.
District Attorney's Office spokesman Alex Bastian said prosecutors disagreed with the pretrial risk assessment that led to Mims' release.
"This case as well as other cases are a point of contention for both parties and we are going to do our best to work through this to be sure that whatever pretrial assessment is doing to assess these cases is the best thing," Bastian said.
Judge Donna Hitchens set bail at $5 million each, over the objections of Assistant District Attorney Michael Swart, who argued for $10 million.
"This is a felony murder case," he said, arguing that the alleged crimes and Mims' prior record justified a higher bail.
Prosecutors also moved to revoke Mims' probation.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi indicated he would be representing Decuir, and attorney Randall Knox was assigned to represent Mims. Both declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
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