Funeral held for slain teen Andy Zeng

From SF Examiner,

Funeral services were held Saturday morning for Andy Zeng, the slain 16-year-old who was found with a gunshot wound to the head this month at a home in The City’s Silver Terrace neighborhood.

Family, friends, schoolmates and teachers gathered around the open casket at the service at Halsted N. Gray-Carew and English in the Tenderloin, where Buddhist prayer songs and remembrance speeches for the teen went on for two hours. Family members declined to speak with members of the media, who were allowed to view the service from a front room outside the memorial service.

Andy Zeng's father doubts shooting was accidental

From SFgate,

The distraught father of a 16-year-old boy whose body was found last week in a gasoline-soaked room with a bag over his head said Thursday he does not think the homicide was an accident.

Zhi Xiang Zeng, father of Andy Zeng, spoke at a news conference held to announce a relief fund drive for the family.

Read more at SFgate

Attorney: Teen Who Fatally Shot 16-Year-Old Thought Gun Was Unloaded

From SF Appeal,

The defense attorney for a teenager accused of fatally shooting a 16-year-old boy at a home in San Francisco's Silver Terrace neighborhood earlier this month said today that his client thought the gun was unloaded.

Outside of court, the teen's attorney, Tony Tamburello, said he thinks the murder charge will likely be reduced to a lesser charge because "there was no malice or premeditation" involving Zeng's death.

Zeng "was his good friend, they hung out together a lot," Tamburello said. "He is extremely sorry, and expressed remorse" about what happened."

Zeng's parents were at today's hearing, and are planning to hold a news conference Thursday to talk about the death of their only son.

His funeral is being held Saturday at 1123 Sutter St. in San Francisco.

Anyone wishing to donate to the family is encouraged to contact Cathay Bank and mention the account titled "Andy Zeng - APACC."

Read the full article at SF Appeal

Gruesome details revealed in S.F. teen's slaying

The realities of this story are becoming harder and harder to comprehend.

KTVU has video of SF DA George Gascón discussing the charges against the 15-year old alleged gunman, who has been charged as a jeuvenile in the case.

From SFGate,

After a 16-year-old San Francisco boy was shot to death over the weekend, the accused killer and accomplices discussed sawing up his body to hide his death, then bungled an attempt to set him ablaze, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The victim, Andy Zeng, was found dead inside a gasoline-soaked room of a two-story duplex in Silver Terrace early Sunday, a gunshot wound to his head, which was partly covered with a black garbage bag, police said. His legs were also covered with bags.

Read more at SFGate

S.F. boy, 15, charged in friend's killing

This just gets sadder and sadder.

From SFGate,

A 15-year-old San Francisco boy was charged with murder and attempted arson Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old friend whose body was found with a bag over his head on a gasoline-soaked floor, authorities said.

The boy has been charged as a juvenile, meaning he would face a maximum confinement until age 25 if convicted of the killing early Sunday of Andy Zeng, a student at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. The youth's name has not been released because he is a minor.

The suspect told police that the shooting was an accident that happened as he and Zeng were playing with a gun on the ground floor of a two-story duplex in Silver Terrace, investigators said.

Read more at SFGate

Students at Thurgood Marshall mourn the slaying of Andy Zeng

Friends of the slain teen have begun the healing process, with at least two Facebook pages (here and here) and several Tumblr and Twitter posts being dedicated to the young man.

Whether this tragic event was another gangland murder or something that simply went terribly and fatally wrong (and then somehow got even worse), one thing is for certain - that there is yet another young man who has been denied the opportunity to fulfill his potential.

From the SF Examiner,

Andy Zeng

Slain 16-year-old sophomore Andy Zeng was a “jolly” and beloved student at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School who loved video games, rarely missed class and was not in a gang, the school principal and Zeng's peers said Tuesday.

Stunned students at the school are mourning Zeng’s death this week. On Sunday, the sophomore’s body was found in a home in the Silver Terrace neighborhood. He did not live in the home. Police say the teen was murdered.

Four teenagers have been arrested and a fifth teen was being sought in connection with the killing. Police were called to the two-story house in the 2100 block of Quesada Avenue around 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner