SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, December 10, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced that a jury returned a guilty verdict of second-degree murder in the homicide trial against Casey Murray for the 2019 murder of his girlfriend, Alice James. The jury found Murray guilty of one count of felony domestic violence, two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon, one count of felony assault with great bodily injury, and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest. The case is the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s second homicide trial guilty verdict this week.
“My administration prioritizes homicide cases, and our assistant district attorneys have been working hard to bring homicide cases to trial,” said Boudin. “These verdicts ensure accountability for the victims’ families and loved ones.”
In June 2019, the defendant bludgeoned his girlfriend to death with a wine bottle. Prior to the incident, there had been four domestic violence reports between Murray and the victim.
Authorities were notified of the homicide when a friend of Murray’s walked into Mission Station to report that he received a text message from the suspect stating that he had killed his girlfriend and was going to kill himself. When police arrived at the victim’s house, Murray barricaded himself inside the house before trying to flee from officers, but he was taken into custody.
“This was a brutal murder against a victim who had been tormented for years by her abuser,” said Assistant District Ryan King. “Although this verdict can never bring Alice back, I hope by holding Mr. Murray accountable for his actions, we can bring some solace to her family.”
“It was an honor to be with and support Alice’s family throughout this trial,” said Beverly Upton, Executive Director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium. “This beautiful woman was taken too soon at the hands of her abuser. Ryan King did a tremendous job prosecuting this case and keeping the memory of Alice alive. I am relieved the family has received accountability for the loss of Alice.”
Assistant District Attorney Ryan King prosecuted the case, assisted by Paralegals Tony Yu and Jessica Diamond. Victim Services Advocate Jovan Thomas provided support to the victim’s family. The police investigation was led by San Francisco Police Department Sgt. Brent Dittmer.
In addition to this case, earlier this week a jury found Aaron Tagata guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 stabbing death of Marco Perez-Diaz. Assistant District Attorney Aaron Laycook prosecuted the case.
