Co-worker ‘motivated by jealousy’ shoots 19-year-old on birthday, CA officials say

A man’s 19th birthday, which was also his first day on the job, was the day he’d be shot, California officials said.

In March 2019, while waiting for an elevator at the San Francisco Conservation Corps, the victim was shot “execution style,” according to a Sept. 23 news release by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

The victim was identified at the time by San Francisco officers as Taiepisi Gutu, according to a news release by the police department.

Gutu’s co-worker, Hakim Oden, had been sent to the SFCC after being accused of committing a robbery, officials said.

Oden, “motivated by jealousy,” waited in his car outside the building and saw the victim with a woman who Oden was “romantically interested in,” officials said.

Oden, with his hood up and hands hidden in his pockets, followed the victim into the building, prosecutors said.

He shot him in the back of the head before fleeing San Francisco in his car, officials said.

San Francisco police responded to the area, and Gutu was transported to the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, officers said.

Gutu died two days later, officers said.

Oden was arrested in Riverside County following a shootout with California Highway Patrol officers, officials said.

Oden, 25, of El Cerrito pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison Sept. 23, officials said.

“While nothing we do can bring the victim back, I hope that this outcome brings a measure of closure and healing to his friends and family,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in the release.

McClatchy News reached out to the district attorney’s office for further information on Sept. 25 and was awaiting a response.

This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Co-worker ‘motivated by jealousy’ shoots 19-year-old on birthday, CA officials say."