A suspected gang member who has been charged with fatally shooting a man in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood in 2009 entered a not guilty plea in court today.
Jonathan Quintay Brown, 29, entered the plea this morning for the killing of 40-year-old San Francisco resident Myron Edwards, who was shot in broad daylight on Feb. 7, 2009, according to the San Francisco medical examiner’s office.
The day of the shooting, police heard gunshots and witnessed Edwards getting shot at the intersection of Eddy and Laguna streets. Edwards was found lying in the street and later died at San Francisco General Hospital, police said.
Police believe the murder may have been a tragic case of mistaken retaliation, since Edwards filed a burglary report with police just days before the shooting.
Among the items stolen from Edwards’ home was a puppy, which later turned up at a residence being searched by the San Francisco Police Department’s gang task force, police said.
The same day the gang task force served the search warrant, Edwards was beaten up by a group of suspected gang members. Police said the warranted search might have mistakenly caused the suspected gang members to believe Edwards had tipped off police.
However, police said the search warrant had been issued before Edwards’ police report and that Edwards had nothing to do with the search warrant being conducted by the gang task force and didn’t know his dog was at the residence.
Brown, a suspected gang member, was arrested three days after the homicide when he arrived to check in at his parole office, according to police.
According to San Francisco Public Defender’s Office spokeswoman Tamara Barak Aparton, Brown was initially arrested in connection with Edwards’ murder, but then was released.
Aparton said Brown was again arrested on Feb. 5 in connection with the homicide of Edwards while he was serving a sentence in state prison in Vacaville for an unrelated crime.
According to San Francisco District Attorney’s Office spokesman Max Szabo, Brown was charged with murder with gang and firearm-related enhancements. He was also charged with criminal threats.
Brown is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
