Murder charges filed against California farm worker
2023.02.17 02:49
Murder charges filed against California farm worker
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – According to the San Mateo County district attorney, a 66-year-old immigrant farm worker who was accused of killing seven coworkers in a mass shooting last month at two mushroom-growing sites near San Francisco pleaded not guilty to all charges on Thursday.
During a brief court hearing in nearby Redwood, Chunli Zhao, a Chinese citizen and sole suspect in the massacre on Jan. 23 in the seaside town of Half Moon Bay, made the plea himself, speaking through a Mandarin-language interpreter (NYSE:). City, stated the DA.
Reuters was informed by the district attorney, Steve Wagstaffe, that the next hearing in the case was scheduled for May 3. A date for a so-called preliminary hearing, in which prosecutors present their case to convince the judge that they have sufficient evidence to proceed to trial, was scheduled for that event.
In a criminal complaint, Zhao is accused of “personally and intentionally” shooting to kill, and he faces seven counts of premeditated murder and one count of attempted murder. The complaint also cites “special circumstance” allegations against him.
Despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2019 declaration of a moratorium on executions, defendants convicted of murder under “special circumstances” are eligible for the death penalty under California law. Since 2006, the state has not executed a condemned prisoner.
The second of back-to-back deadly gun rampages in California last month in which a total of 18 victims were slain two days apart, authorities have stated that they have yet to establish a clear motive for the killings.
According to the property’s owners, Zhao lived on the property with other employees and was employed by Mountain Mushroom Farm, one of the growers.
Authorities stated that early evidence suggested that a workplace dispute was the source of the bloodshed. Mountain Mushroom is about a mile away from the second crime scene, Concord Farms.
The shooting spree also brought back attention to the difficulties faced by the region’s farm workers, many of whom are immigrants from Asia and Latin America. These workers frequently live in filthy conditions and work long hours for very little pay.
Two days earlier, a gunman opened fire on a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, near Los Angeles, that was mostly used by older people of Asian descent. The shootings in Half Moon Bay occurred 380 miles to the south.
On January 21, the first night of community celebrations for Lunar New Year, the dance club was the scene of eleven fatalities and nine injuries.
Authorities claim that Huu Can Tran, 72, the person who attacked Monterey Park, shot himself the next day as police closed in to make an arrest.
