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Florida Inmate Charged In San Francisco Cold Case Homicides

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A 38-year-old inmate serving time in a Florida penitentiary for bank robbery has been charged with two cold case murders in San Francisco, authorities announced Monday.

The San Francisco Police said Roy Donovan Lacy will be extradited to the Bay Area to stand trial for the Dec. 1999 murder of Kameron Sengthavy and the June 2000 murder of Thomas Lee.

Sengthavy, a 25-year-old former University of Nevada, Las Vegas swimmer, was found stabbed to death in an apartment building on the 400 block of Bush Street the night of Dec. 9, 1999.

Meanwhile, the 60-year-old Lee was found fatally shot while working at a gas station at Washington and Van Ness Streets on the morning of June 1, 2000.

The SFPD homicide unit conducted the initial investigations of these crimes. After exhausting all leads, the investigations were assigned to the Department's Cold Case Unit.

In early 2018, investigators from the cold case unit developed information that led to Lacy, who had previously lived in the Bay Area and has been convicted of several bank robberies in Marin. He was sentenced to 105 years in prison for those crimes.

Following his sentencing in Marin County, Lacy was transported back to Florida to finish out the remainder of his prison term for robberies in that state.

SFPD investigators gathered evidence and developed probable cause to charge Lacy with the murders of Sengthavy and Lee. An arrest warrant has been issued charging Lacy with two counts of homicide. He was expected to be extradited to San Francisco to stand trial for the murders.

Upon conclusion of the San Francisco murder trials, Lacy is expected to return to Florida to finish out his nine-year sentence for bank robbery. He would then be transported back to Marin County and serve out his 105-year sentence for the 2012 and 2013 bank robbery convictions.

While an arrest has been made in these cases, they remain open investigations. Anyone with information on the murder of Kameron Sengthavy or Thomas Lee is asked to contact Inspector Dan Cunningham of the SFPD Homicide Detail at (415) 553-9515.

Information can also be provided via the SFPD 24 hour tip line at (415) 575-4444 or by using Text-a-Tip. Text TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.

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