SF Judge Granted Gun Diversion; Suspect Allegedly Killed Man 36 Days Later

Thirty-six days after Superior Court Judge Gail Dekreon granted pretrial diversion to a man caught with a loaded pistol in a Mission District tent encampment, prosecutors say that man walked up to Emin Chavez Martinez near 16th Street and San Bruno Avenue, raised a shotgun, and fired once into his chest. Martinez died where he fell.

The defendant, Evan Perez Villanueva, had been found with a loaded .380 Cobra semiautomatic pistol and ammunition during an SFPD sweep of tent encampments in the Mission District, an incident that initially produced two felony charges in November 2024. Those felonies were later reduced to misdemeanors by Judge Murlene Randall over prosecutors' objections. On December 10, 2025, Judge Dekreon found Villanueva eligible for pretrial diversion and ordered him to take a gun safety course and write a reflective essay on what he had learned.

Public Defender Charlie Dickson had argued for the diversion arrangement. "Mr. Perez Villanueva is not a public safety threat," Dickson wrote in his motion. "He has no record. He is a dedicated father and is a good member of the community." The defense brief went further, urging the court to give Villanueva "the chance to do diversion to show to the Court that this conduct does not represent who he is." Judge Dekreon agreed.

Prosecutors allege that on January 15, 2026, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Villanueva instead rearmed himself with a shotgun and used it to kill Martinez. Court documents describe Martinez with his hands in the air as Villanueva approached and shot him directly in the chest. Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai cited security camera footage in a subsequent motion to keep Villanueva detained: "A video depicts Mr. Martinez approached by a man with a shotgun."

Judge Dekreon's precise status at the time she granted the December diversion warrants scrutiny. According to Ballotpedia, she served on the San Francisco Superior Court from 2003 to 2023, and sources indicate she was apparently continuing in a visiting or assigned capacity when she presided over the December 10 hearing. The San Francisco Superior Court's administrative records would clarify her exact assignment.

The case has intensified debate about judicial accountability in San Francisco. The Voice of San Francisco noted that while voters recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin, judges face far less electoral pressure. Roughly half of the city's judges up for reelection in June 2026 have public defender backgrounds, and most run unopposed, meaning their names never appear on the ballot and they are automatically reelected without a public vote. Stop Crime Action has published a Judge Report Card grading candidates on public safety ahead of that election.

Villanueva remains in custody pending the homicide case. The trajectory from two felonies in November 2024, to misdemeanors, to a diversion order requiring an essay, to an alleged murder 36 days later has become the sharpest illustration yet of what critics call a systemic gap between courtroom discretion and street-level consequences in San Francisco.