A San Francisco State student was found naked and stabbed to death in a vacant lot near campus, two hours after friends dropped him at his house a few blocks away.
Later on Labor Day, a Visitacion Valley man was shot to death walking home with a burrito he had just bought for his girlfriend. Police say he was an unintended victim caught in gang retaliatory violence.
The two slayings were among six in the past week that pushed the city's total for the year to 79, a pace that has San Francisco on track to end 2007 with its highest homicide count in more than a decade.
The death toll through Tuesday was just six homicides shy of the 85 recorded last year in San Francisco. At this rate, the total for 2007 would approach 120 killings, which would be the most since 133 people were slain in 1993.
Among the Labor Day victims was San Francisco State senior John Schirra, who was found stabbed to death at 3:42 a.m. Monday.
Friends had dropped off Schirra, 22, at his house on Thrift Street after 1 a.m., but he never went inside. His body was found naked in a lot on the 2600 block of San Jose Avenue; his clothes were found a few blocks away.
"It's a real whodunit," said Lt. John Murphy of the police homicide detail.
Schirra went by his middle name, Daniel, his mother said. Robin Schirra said her son was a good student who loved playing guitar and computer games and soaring in gliders.
"His dream was to play in a band," she said. "But he knew he had to make money, so his goal was to do audio production."
She said he was a whiz at computer games at age 3 and learned to pilot a glider at age 14. He studied in Irvine for two years, then moved to San Francisco for its diversity, she said.
"He loved the fact that you could walk around in San Francisco and be in the community - Irvine felt too artificial for him," his mother said. "San Francisco felt more real and alive."
Schirra was majoring in radio and television and would have graduated in spring, San Francisco State officials said.
"It's a tragic loss for the department," said Scott Patterson, chairman of the broadcast and electronic communication arts department. "I find it incomprehensible. ... John was a dean's list student."
About 11 hours after Schirra's body was found, David Sterling Jr., 26, was shot and killed as he returned from a burrito run for his girlfriend in Visitacion Valley.
Sterling was shot at 2:30 p.m. at Brookdale Avenue and Santos Street. Investigators think he may have been shot by gang members in retaliation for a fatal shooting Sunday morning, but said that if that was the case, they got the wrong man.
Sterling had no record and was not a member of any gang, police said.
"These youngsters, they don't know everybody who is in the other gang, so they just shoot people," Murphy said. "Trying to rationalize this, it's crazy."
Sterling's grandmother said he was "a very nice boy" who grew up on Brookdale.
"They just kill you if they think you're somebody - that's sick," Ann Sterling said. "What's hurting me, they don't even know who did it."
Murphy said Sterling's death may have been connected to the slaying Sunday morning of Byron Smith, 32, who was shot by two young men on bicycles on Velasco Avenue near his home. That slaying happened just two blocks from where Sterling died.
"I don't think we have any other explanation for it," the lieutenant said.
The recent spate of killings began Thursday when Gabriel Bautista, 22, was found bludgeoned under Highway 101 at Bayshore Boulevard. He died Saturday.
On Friday, Linda Almanza, 37, and Robert Peplies, 45, were found stabbed to death in the Ingleside Heights home where Almanza lived. The bodies were found by Almanza's former husband, who police say is not a suspect.
One possibility is that the killings were a murder-suicide, police said.
Early Sunday, DeJohn Maybon, 35, was shot to death outside the Franciscan Hotel on Third Street when he went out to get something to drink, police said. A woman who was with him was wounded.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/05/BA9LRURFO.DTL
Later on Labor Day, a Visitacion Valley man was shot to death walking home with a burrito he had just bought for his girlfriend. Police say he was an unintended victim caught in gang retaliatory violence.
The two slayings were among six in the past week that pushed the city's total for the year to 79, a pace that has San Francisco on track to end 2007 with its highest homicide count in more than a decade.
The death toll through Tuesday was just six homicides shy of the 85 recorded last year in San Francisco. At this rate, the total for 2007 would approach 120 killings, which would be the most since 133 people were slain in 1993.
Among the Labor Day victims was San Francisco State senior John Schirra, who was found stabbed to death at 3:42 a.m. Monday.
Friends had dropped off Schirra, 22, at his house on Thrift Street after 1 a.m., but he never went inside. His body was found naked in a lot on the 2600 block of San Jose Avenue; his clothes were found a few blocks away.
"It's a real whodunit," said Lt. John Murphy of the police homicide detail.
Schirra went by his middle name, Daniel, his mother said. Robin Schirra said her son was a good student who loved playing guitar and computer games and soaring in gliders.
"His dream was to play in a band," she said. "But he knew he had to make money, so his goal was to do audio production."
She said he was a whiz at computer games at age 3 and learned to pilot a glider at age 14. He studied in Irvine for two years, then moved to San Francisco for its diversity, she said.
"He loved the fact that you could walk around in San Francisco and be in the community - Irvine felt too artificial for him," his mother said. "San Francisco felt more real and alive."
Schirra was majoring in radio and television and would have graduated in spring, San Francisco State officials said.
"It's a tragic loss for the department," said Scott Patterson, chairman of the broadcast and electronic communication arts department. "I find it incomprehensible. ... John was a dean's list student."
About 11 hours after Schirra's body was found, David Sterling Jr., 26, was shot and killed as he returned from a burrito run for his girlfriend in Visitacion Valley.
Sterling was shot at 2:30 p.m. at Brookdale Avenue and Santos Street. Investigators think he may have been shot by gang members in retaliation for a fatal shooting Sunday morning, but said that if that was the case, they got the wrong man.
Sterling had no record and was not a member of any gang, police said.
"These youngsters, they don't know everybody who is in the other gang, so they just shoot people," Murphy said. "Trying to rationalize this, it's crazy."
Sterling's grandmother said he was "a very nice boy" who grew up on Brookdale.
"They just kill you if they think you're somebody - that's sick," Ann Sterling said. "What's hurting me, they don't even know who did it."
Murphy said Sterling's death may have been connected to the slaying Sunday morning of Byron Smith, 32, who was shot by two young men on bicycles on Velasco Avenue near his home. That slaying happened just two blocks from where Sterling died.
"I don't think we have any other explanation for it," the lieutenant said.
The recent spate of killings began Thursday when Gabriel Bautista, 22, was found bludgeoned under Highway 101 at Bayshore Boulevard. He died Saturday.
On Friday, Linda Almanza, 37, and Robert Peplies, 45, were found stabbed to death in the Ingleside Heights home where Almanza lived. The bodies were found by Almanza's former husband, who police say is not a suspect.
One possibility is that the killings were a murder-suicide, police said.
Early Sunday, DeJohn Maybon, 35, was shot to death outside the Franciscan Hotel on Third Street when he went out to get something to drink, police said. A woman who was with him was wounded.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/05/BA9LRURFO.DTL
