A 19-year-old San Francisco man pleaded guilty to a gun charge last week in connection with the fatal shooting of another teen in May that was later deemed legally justifiable, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Desmond Wroten was arrested after the shooting of 18-year-old Ilya Yurchenkov, of San Francisco, which occurred at about 11:30 p.m. on May 7 in the 2400 block of Geary Boulevard.
Police said Wroten was not the shooter, but he was found with the gun used in the killing when he was arrested.
Prior to the shooting, Yurchenkov and a friend had been involved in an altercation with others on the street, but then went inside a locked home, according to police.
Someone outside yelled something, and Yurchenkov allegedly came out with a large hunting knife and was shot, police said.
Police homicide Lt. Mike Stasko said Wednesday that although Wroten was involved in the altercation and was initially arrested on a murder charge, it was later determined that he had been given the gun by the shooter just after it was fired.
Though the actual shooter was never found, prosecutors concluded that the shooter had been justified in protecting himself, and police are no longer calling the case a homicide.
On Friday, Wroten pleaded guilty to a felony count of carrying a concealed firearm, district attorney’s office spokeswoman Erica Derryck said.
Wroten is to be sentenced to six months in county jail under the terms of the plea agreement, Derryck said.
