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The 16-year-old boy who was found dead in a home in San Francisco’s Silver Terrace neighborhood early Sunday morning was killed in a shooting, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office confirmed today.
Police had released few details about what led to the death of Andy Zeng, but district attorney’s spokeswoman Erica Derryck confirmed this evening that he died in a shooting.
The district attorney’s office also filed charges today against two of five suspects, one was charged with murder and the other with being an accessory to murder.
Zeng was found dead at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday at a home in the 2100 block of Quesada Avenue. Four teens have been arrested in the case, including a 15-year-old boy who was charged today with murder.
The 15-year-old will appear in juvenile court Wednesday in connection with the murder, Derryck said.
Zeng was a San Francisco resident but did not live at the home where he was found, police said.
He was a sophomore at nearby Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Heidi Anderson said.
Zeng’s death was initially reported as a possible suicide, but the medical examiner’s office quickly determined the death was suspicious, and the teens were arrested shortly afterward.
The 15-year-old boy who was arrested on suspicion of murder and the three other suspects–boys ages 15 and 17, and an 18-year-old man–all face attempted arson charges, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.
The attempted arson counts were added because police found an accelerant–either gasoline or kerosene–near where Zeng’s body was found, Dangerfield said.
A fifth suspect, also a teenage boy, is still at large, Dangerfield said.
The 18-year-old man, Jimmy Lei, was charged today with one count of being an accessory to murder after the fact, Derryck said. Lei is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Hall of Justice.
Lei was also charged today with one count of attempted arson and one count of use of an incendiary device, Derryck said.
The other suspects’ names have not yet been released, and more information about the case was not immediately available, he said.
The school district is making grief counseling services available at Thurgood Marshall this week for students affected by Zeng’s death, Anderson said.
A Facebook memorial page was set up in honor of Zeng by one of his friends.
In the description of the memorial page, its creator said, “Andy may you rest in peace and watch over the TMAHS family.”
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