SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, June 11 the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced that a jury reached guilty verdicts in a felony domestic violence trial. According to a news release, the case was from a May 2018 incident in which Jovaughn Timms shot his girlfriend in the stomach during an argument. The jury convicted him on five out of the six charges, including assault with a firearm with conduct enhancements; domestic violence causing injury with conduct enhancements; and firearm charges.
“I commend my team’s hard work in successfully prosecuting this domestic violence—and gun violence—case,” said District Attorney Boudin. “As the courts reopen and more trials take place, these kinds of serious, violent cases are our top priority. We also thank the medical team at San Francisco General Hospital for administering critical care to the survivor in this case and thank the San Francisco Police Department officers who investigated the case.”
On May 25, 2018, Timms and his girlfriend of several months got into an argument in the middle of California Street near the intersection of Scott Street. The suspect reached into a pouch around his waist, pulled out a Smith & Wesson revolver, and shot her in the abdomen. The bullet exited her body and was recovered in the middle of the street. She entered a nearby lobby asking for an ambulance, informing the front desk that she had been shot by her boyfriend. She went outside and flagged down a passing ambulance, which brought her to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment.
There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting and the victim declined to testify. Two days after the shooting, on May 27, 2018, Timms was arrested several blocks away and was found with a Smith & Wesson revolver with three loaded cartridges and two empty chambers. The gun was later tested by a SFPD ballistics expert and found to be the same gun that fired the bullet that was found in the roadway two days earlier, and which was later determined to contain the victim’s DNA.
Assistant District Attorney Donald du Bain of the Domestic Violence Unit prosecuted the case, assisted by Inspector John Keane of the San Francisco Police Department, who spearheaded the police investigation. District Attorney Inspectors Steven Tull and Douglas Keely, Assistant District Attorneys Anupa George and Sarah Orrick, paralegals Loretta Lu and Lena Ku, and IT technicians Morris Moore and Leland Chan assisted on the case. Victim Services Advocate Gretel Chuquipul provided support to the victim.
“I appreciate the conscientious and deliberate effort that the jury made in evaluating the evidence, and reaching a verdict that held Mr. Timms accountable for this violent assault,” said Assistant District Attorney du Bain. “I also wish to thank the survivor’s mother, who provided critical assistance to the police and testified before the jury to seek justice for her daughter.”
