A 25-year-old man is out of jail after prosecutors dismissed murder charges against him in connection with a fatal stabbing in San Francisco’s Hunters Point neighborhood last May, his attorney said today.
Andrew Zamora was accused of being involved in the killing of 20-year-old Cameron Myers on May 15 near Innes Avenue and Aurelious Walker Drive.
Myers was found stabbed on the sidewalk after police responded to reports of a man screaming. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Zamora was arrested on May 21 in Las Vegas and was extradited back to San Francisco, according to police.
However, before the case went to a preliminary hearing, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Zamora on Tuesday and he was released from custody later that day, his attorney Rebecca Feigelson said today.
Feigelson said the fact that the charges were dropped before the case even went to a hearing on its merits shows “the baselessness of the initial criminal case.”
“My client was essentially innocent from the beginning,” she said.
Feigelson said Zamora was “elated” after finding out he would be freed.
“He was in tears when we told him what was going to happen, tears of joy,” she said. “He was in custody for nine months for a crime he did not commit.”
District attorney’s office spokesman Alex Bastian said, “As the investigation unfolded, we no longer had a good faith belief that we could sustain our burden of proof. We are unable to ethically proceed at this time.”
Police said that a 15-year-old boy was arrested in Nevada City, Calif., days after Myers’ killing and Feigelson said there are also two other juveniles facing charges in the case.
Bastian said no other details about the case were immediately available.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
