Man arrested for 2nd time in 2015 homicide
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A 25-year-old man accused of fatally shooting another man in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood last year made an appearance in court this morning after being charged for the homicide for the second time.
Murad Zawaideh was arrested on Sept. 7 on suspicion of murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm in addition to having a felony warrant, according to police records.
During his court appearance this morning, Zawaideh did not enter a plea and his arraignment was put over to Sept. 28 at 9 a.m.
He is currently in custody without bail. The homicide and gun charges stem from a May 9, 2015, fatal drive-by shooting that occurred in the 500 block of Larkin Street around 1:10 a.m.
The victim, later identified as 30-year-old Oakland resident Ramone Cruz, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died, police said.
Zawaideh had previously been arrested in connection with the fatal drive-by shooting during the initial police investigation last year but prosecutors later dropped the charges against Zawaideh.
The district attorney's office did not say why the charges were initially dropped. Zawaideh's defense attorney, Stuart Hanlon, said he thinks it's because the main witness in the case had been arrested on suspicion of multiple robberies and couldn't testify.
When asked why his client was being recharged, Hanlon said, "I don't know why they're booking him. I don't think the situation has changed. We'll find out."
After the initial charges were dropped last year, Zawaideh was sent to San Mateo County, where he was jailed for violating probation, according to prosecutors.
After serving time for the probation violation charges, Zawaideh was then re-arrested and charged with the San Francisco homicide.