Posted on 09/19/2025 3:02:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The teenager suspected of shooting San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Ricky Pearsall during an attempted robbery in Union Square last year will be tried as a juvenile, a judge ruled Friday morning.
The decision was handed down by Judge Denise de Bellefeuille of Santa Barbara at the end of a weeklong hearing in San Francisco.
The stakes of the transfer hearing were high. Barring a plea deal, the suspect will stand trial for attempted murder, assault and attempted second-degree robbery. For a juvenile found guilty, the charges would probably result in up to seven more years in custody. If tried as an adult and found guilty, he could have faced 40 years to life in prison.
“I expect you to work very hard to become a man of peace,” the judge told the teen upon rendering her decision.
Public Defender Bob Dunlap said of the accused, "I know he is very grateful, and emotional, and of course very relieved. Until about 20 minutes ago, he was looking at life in prison. I think he was afraid, and I’m glad he was afraid, he should have been afraid, and as I said in my comments, I hope he holds onto that."
The ruling came at the end of an emotional morning morning in juvenile court. Ricky Pearsall’s mother, Erin Pearsall, at first struggling to remain composed, read a long statement pleading for the accused to be tried as an adult. Erin Pearsall, who had been in court each day of the hearing, also showed the judge some family photographs.
Erin Pearsall said of the alleged attempted robbery, “It was a day that will haunt me forever.” She noted that her son has a tattoo of an angel on his chest, and “the bullet was fired directly through the angel’s praying hands.”
When Dunlap presented his argument for the teen to be tried as a juvenile, he cited Ricky Pearsall’s past statements that he has compassion for his alleged assailant and would be open to meeting with him. The judge referred to those words when handing down her decision, saying to the accused, “Mr. Pearsall is an incredible human being. You recognize that?”
She added, "He has expressed compassion for you, he has modeled his faith."
The judge also commended the accused for a letter he wrote to Pearsall not long after the attack. Dunlap presented the letter, in which the teen wrote to Pearsall, “I apologize to you and your family. I have been praying for you and your loved ones.”
There was no indication of whether Pearsall received the letter, sent through the district attorney’s office.
During the week, Dunlap presented his client as a victim of trauma from childhood abuse, neglect and violence, both at home and while in the foster care system. The accused’s parents sat behind him Friday in the small courtroom, as they have done each day.
Dunlap cited the testimony of 14 witnesses who have worked with the defendant and asserted that he is “amenable to rehabilitation.” The suspect, the witnesses said, participated in several programs, formed a book club, maintained the highest level in a points-based merit system, graduated from high school and is enrolled in San Francisco City College.
Assistant District Attorney David Mitchell presented during the week the violent details of the incident, using multiple surveillance videos and a recorded police interview with Pearsall, where the 49er said he thought, upon realizing he had been shot in the chest and was bleeding heavily, “This is it for me.”
On Friday, Mitchell stressed that the defendant’s good behavior while in custody was “goal-oriented” conduct that didn’t focus on actual rehabilitation. Mitchell cited the teen’s previous run-ins with the law and said the attack on Pearsall “showed a natural progression of delinquent behavior, and (was) not a one-time incident.” He stressed that the alleged crime “wasn’t impulsive,” but premeditated.
“You don’t rack a round in the chamber unless you’re willing to shoot,” Mitchell told the court.
Mitchell argued that the defendant would have insufficient time to rehabilitate under juvenile care, and that the alleged crime was hardly a spontaneous impulse.
The alleged attack took place on Geary Street near Grant Avenue. Pearsall, who had been drafted four months earlier in the first round, was about to put bags of newly purchased merchandise into his car when the youth approached him, allegedly pointed a semiautomatic pistol at Pearsall and told him, according to the athlete, “Give me everything.”
Pearsall said that when the youth tried to snatch his expensive gold neck chain and wristwatch, Pearsall resisted, the two scuffled to the ground, and the suspect fired three shots before his gun jammed, leaving 10 bullets remaining in the magazine. One shot went through Pearsall’s chest, one hit the suspect’s left arm, and one struck a nearby car.
Delivering her ruling, the judge told the teen defendant, “I was impressed by your letter (to Pearsall). You’ve done great harm.” She said his actions resulted in “trauma inflicted on the entire community. All of San Francisco was traumatized.”
She also told the young man, “You belong to all of us, you are a part of our community.”
This fuckwit is 100% going to go on and kill someone the minute he is released. What we then do to the moron judge who made this decision will determine what type of society we are willing to accept..
This fuckwit is 100% going to go on and kill someone the minute he is released. What we then do to the moron judge who made this decision will determine what type of society we are willing to accept..
Judge is a retard, who should be tarred. That rhymes too..
In Vietnam 18 year old MEN, fought and died. 25 year olds were chopper pilots and fighter pilots whom fought and died. Enough of this adult crime exemption crap. If you can pick up the gun for good or bad you are an adult.
In Vietnam 18 year old MEN, fought and died. 25 year olds were chopper pilots and fighter pilots whom fought and died. Enough of this adult crime exemption crap. If you can pick up the gun for good or bad you are an adult.
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