Slain security guard Rolando De Leon Romero. Photo courtesy of his sister Evangeline Romero Cruz.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A man pleaded not guilty today to murder charges for fatally shooting a security guard in San Francisco's Bayview District last week as the victim sat on a bench video-chatting with his wife.
Cardell Coleman, 24, is accused of shooting 61-year-old Rolando Romero in the vicinity of Fitzgerald Avenue and Arelious Walker Drive around 5 a.m. on July 2.
Officers found Romero suffering from gunshot wounds and he was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. A motive for the shooting hasn't been released.
Romero, a Hayward resident, worked as an overnight security guard at an area of the Alice Griffith public housing development that was under construction.
According to court documents, Coleman lived at the housing complex and on July 2 left his home on Arelious Walker Drive and approached Romero, who was sitting on a bench.
Romero was using his cellphone to video-chat via FaceTime with his wife in the Philippines when Coleman shot him twice, court documents allege.
Coleman then allegedly ran into a nearby building and discarded the weapon, a .38 revolver, in a backpack in the building's stairwell.
Surveillance video helped investigators connect Coleman to the crime. After identifying him as the suspect, plainclothes officers arrested him the following day, July 3, in the 2700 block of Arelious Walker Drive.
After his arrest, Coleman allegedly admitted to shooting Romero and discarding the gun.
According to police Sgt. Tracy McCray, Romero was about an hour away from getting off work when he was shot.
"No one deserves to die like this," McCray said outside of court today. "This is one of the more heinous acts of violence against someone. It wasn't expected, no pre-warning, nothing."
According to McCray, the San Francisco Police Officers Association has donated $1,000 to the GoFundMe page created by Romero's family in order to help bury him in the Philippines, his native country. The page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/5rg5jr4.
"We just want the family to know that we're thinking about them. They're in our thoughts and prayers and we were glad to help them. Hopefully they can bring him back home to be buried," she said.
As of midday today, the fund has raised almost $13,500, well above the initial $10,000 goal. Coleman remains in custody and is being held without bail.