A San Quentin inmate accused of fatally stabbing a serial DUI offender who killed a 9-year-old girl and maimed her father in a crosswalk last year was arrested in prison today, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office said.
Frank Anthony Souza is suspected of killing Edward Schaefer, 44, who had recently been sentenced for hitting Melody and Aaron Osheroff with his motorcycle when he was stabbed in the prison’s Badger Section exercise yard on July 26.
Melody was killed and Aaron Osheroff lost his right leg after Schaefer hit them in a Novato crosswalk while driving drunk on May 27, 2009, the jury found. He had nine prior DUI convictions dating back to age 17.
Schaefer was serving a 24-years-to-life prison sentence when he was stabbed in the neck and chest with a makeshift weapon, the state corrections department said.
He was taken to Marin General Hospital, where he died.
He had apologized to the Osheroffs’ family at his sentencing, saying he was devastated when he learned what happened after the effects of morphine he received for injuries sustained in the crash wore off four days later.
The district attorney’s office obtained a criminal indictment against Souza on Friday and today arrested him for first-degree murder with two special circumstances: lying in wait and prior first-degree murder.
Souza, 31, was already serving a 60-years-to-life sentence for killing a homeless man, 59-year-old John Carl Riggins, in 2007 in San Jose, according to the state corrections department.
He was also charged today with felony assault by a state prison inmate serving a life term and felony possession of a stabbing instrument in a penal institution, the district attorney’s office said.
He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of all charges.
Souza will appear in court on Friday to receive a copy of the indictment and have legal representation assigned.
Janna Brancolini, Bay City News
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