A 21-year-old man who was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle sought by police in connection with the double homicide of two teens at San Francisco’s Crocker Amazon Park last week pleaded not guilty Friday.
According to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, San Francisco resident Davante Robinson was arraigned Friday on one count of unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle and two counts of receiving stolen property.
The stolen vehicle Robinson was driving was wanted in connection with the double shooting last Monday that killed 19-year-old Donzel Gaines, of San Francisco, and 18-year-old Kenyatta Butler Jr., of San Leandro.
San Francisco Officer Grace Gatpandan said that the fatal shooting remains under investigation and that no suspects have been arrested in direct connection with the teens’ deaths.
Gatpandan said the two teens were found dead in a car in the parking lot of the Crocker Amazon Playground in San Francisco’s Excelsior neighborhood the morning of March 9.
Gatpandan said that police identified a stolen vehicle involved in the double homicide and arrested Robinson around 1:15 a.m. on Wednesday as he and a male passenger were in the vehicle at Ingalls Street and Quesada Avenue in the city’s Bayview District.
While the passenger in the car was detained and released, Robinson was arrested, according to Gatpandan.
Robinson remains in custody in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail and is not facing homicide charges, she said.
Police have not released any suspect description or a possible motive for the shooting.
On Friday afternoon, grieving friends, family and community members gathered in the parking lot at Crocker Amazon Playground near Geneva Avenue for a vigil to remember the two teenagers.
Butler’s mother, grandmother, aunt, and sister were among the family who attended the vigil. They described Butler as a good kid with a big smile.
Butler’s aunt, Deanna Lockridge, said Butler grew up in San Francisco playing football and basketball and attending school in the community. His mother moved to San Leandro, but he still spent a lot of his time in the San Francisco.
Lockridge said other people might have been jealous of Butler, since he had a great smile, was attractive, social and got a lot of attention from girls.
“I hope they find whoever did this,” Lockridge said.
None of Butler’s family members who attended the vigil could conceive of who might have wanted to hurt him and said they believed he was “set up,” but didn’t know by whom.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
