Judge Drops Final Lawsuit From Parents in Kate Steinle's Death

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the final outstanding lawsuit filed by the parents of Kate Steinle following her death on a San Francisco pier in 2015, in a case that sparked a national debate over sanctuary city policies.

Jim Steinle and Elizabeth Sullivan sued the U.S. government for employing a ranger who left the handgun used in the shooting unlocked in a vehicle on a San Francisco street in June 2015. The gun ended up in the hands of Jose Garcia-Zarate.

Garcia-Zarate said he unwittingly picked up the gun wrapped in a T-shirt, and it fired accidentally. The bullet ricocheted off a concrete walkway and struck Steinle, who was with her father and a family friend on Pier 14.

A San Francisco jury acquitted Garcia-Zarate of murder and assault charges and convicted him only of being a felon in possession of a gun. A state appeals court overturned the conviction.

In Monday’s decision, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that ranger John Woychowski and his employer, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, may have been negligent by leaving the handgun unlocked in a backpack on the passenger side of his private SUV, Chief U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero wrote. But Spero said too much time had passed and too many events had intervened by the time the 32-year-old was killed several days later. He noted that there also was no evidence Garcia-Zarate had stolen the gun.

Garcia-Zarate, who was living in the United States illegally, had been deported five times to his native Mexico and had just spent 46 months in federal prison for illegal re-entry when federal officials turned him over to San Francisco in March 2015 to face an old marijuana charge. The city released him under its sanctuary city policy.

Garcia-Zarate, 46, who remains in custody, still faces federal charges of being a felon and an undocumented immigrant in possession of a gun and ammunition.

Steinle’s parents also sued the city for damages. But Spero dismissed those claims in 2017, saying there was no prior evidence that Garcia-Zarate was dangerous and federal law did not require the city to inform the government before he was released under San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy.

Alison Cordova, a lawyer for Steinle’s parents, said they would appeal the ruling.