What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about Francisco Sanchez, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

Francisco Sanchez

Francisco Sanchez9 posts

Francisco Sanchez is a Mexican illegal immigrant who allegedly killed Katie Steinle in San Francisco on July 1, 2015.

Latest News view > Click for Biography view
1 Sep, 2015

Parents file claims

Files Suit0 Comments

Steinle’s parents, Jim Steinle and Liz Sullivan, file three claims seeking unspecified damages against San Francisco’s Sheriff Mirkarimi, the Bureau of Land Management and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to hold them accountable for her death. If the claims are denied, the family could file wrongful death suits. Lawyer:

Both statistics and this gentleman’s history would tell you that what happened out on Pier 14 was not only forseeable, it was predictable.

The Steinle family say they were prompted to act after witnessing weeks of finger-pointing over the killing and no change in the sanctuary city policies. Brother:

We’re here to make sure that a change is made so no one has to endure the pain my mom and dad and I go through on a daily basis. Because the system failed our sister. And at this point, no one has taken responsibility, accountability, and nothing has changed.

7 Jul, 2015

Pleads not guilty, federal gun used

Plea hearing1 Comments

Sanchez pleads “not guilty” in Steinle’s death, saying he found the gun wrapped inside a T-shirt on the Pier, and it went off accidentally. Defense attorney:

This very well could be a completely accidental discharge of a firearm.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday that a service weapon issued to one of its agents was used in the shooting. The weapon was reported stolen in a car burglary in San Francisco in June. A spokesman for the agency said the matter was under investigation.

5 Jul, 2015

Jail interview

Interview1 Comments

In a jail interview Lopez admits he shot Steinle, but says the weapon — which he said he found lying on the ground wrapped in a T-shirt — went off by accident when he picked it up. At another points he says he could not recall details of the shooting because he’d taken sleeping medication. When asked where he got the gun:

In the ground. When the… when the… over there in the bench, um, um, I put my leg and I see the one T-shirt and then see over there something like that…Then suddenly I heard that boom boom, three times.

He says he returned to the United States after he was deported to find work in restaurants, or roofing, landscaping, and construction, and that he has worked on ranches in Arizona and helped stock stores in Portland, Oregon. He says he came to San Francisco because there were more opportunities and because officials there would not deport him. He also says he does not have a lawyer and plans to say he is guilty in court.

I want the courts to punish me as is deserved and for this to end as soon as possible.

4 Jul, 2015

Parents speak on SF policy

Makes Statement0 Comments

Steinle’s parents say that while they respect the immigration sanctuary laws of SF, their daughter wouldn’t have been killed by Sanchez if ICE had been complied with.

We’re here for kate and I think I can speak for my wife when I say its a non issue…It would have been so much better if he were gone and they would have done what they should have done, absolutely, without a guess definitely but that’s not how it is.

3 Jul, 2015

Deported five times, seven felony convictions

Makes Statement0 Comments

ICE says Sanchez has seven felony convictions and has been deported five times, most recently in 2009. Four of those convictions involved narcotics charges. They also say they had requested San Francisco to detain him in march, but the Sheriff’s Department released him.

Cites SF death

Makes Statement0 Comments

Trump says Steinle’s murder by Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant and a repeat felon who had been deported five times to Mexico, shows that the border must be secured.

This senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant is yet another example of why we must secure our border immediately. This is an absolutely disgraceful situation and I am the only one that can fix it. Nobody else has the guts to even talk about it. That won’t happen if I become President. The American people deserve a wall to protect our jobs, economy and our safety. I am the only candidate who would build it.

1 Jul, 2015

Arrested

Arrest0 Comments

About one hour after the shooting, a mile from the scene, Sanchez is detained by police. He is taken to San Francisco County Jail and faces a homicide charge.

Katie Steinle killed age 31

DeathMurder0 Comments

Steinle, a medical device sales person, is walking on a busy pier in San Francisco with her father when there is a single popping sound in the air. She falls to the ground, struck by a bullet in the upper body. Mother:

She just kept saying, ‘Dad, help me, help me’.

She is taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Her heart stops twice on the way to the hospital. She dies during surgery.

She fought for her life. They said how strong she was but they just couldn’t save her.

26 Mar, 2015

Arrested

Arrest0 Comments

ICE turns Sanchez over to San Francisco authorities for an outstanding drug warrant. The agency requests an immigration detainer, but San Francisco — a city that doesn’t honor such request, believing them to violate Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures — releases him. San Francisco law says that

a law enforcement official shall not detain an individual on the basis of a civil immigration detainer after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody.

The chief legal counsel to the San Francisco County Sheriff says Francisco was let go because there was no legal cause to detain the suspect. The department would have returned Lopez-Sanchez if there had been a court order or warrant, but:

When Mr. Lopez-Sanchez was booked into the jail, there was no active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warrant or judicial order of removal for him.

Charges are dropped the following day, but Sanchez is held until April 15 while the sheriff’s office determine if there are no other warrants for his arrest and he had completed his federal prison sentence.