Driver charged with murder in SF hit‑and‑run that killed 74-year-old: DA

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A 30-year-old driver has been charged with murder in San Francisco for allegedly hitting a pedestrian with his car and then leaving the scene after an apparent confrontation over the driver blocking the sidewalk, according to the district attorney.

The driver and his legal team have a drastically different account of what happened.

"Not a criminal act," said Seth Morris, the suspect's attorney, calling the incident self-defense. When asked if he felt manslaughter charges would be more appropriate, he responded, "It's a noncrime."

Morris said his client is a family man with no criminal history. At the suspect's first court appearance Thursday, more than a dozen family members and friends showed up in support. In court, they cried and prayed. The suspect was visibly emotional as he saw his family and sat through the arraignment.

The suspect did not enter a plea Thursday. ABC7 Eyewitness News does not name suspects until after they have been arraigned.

The incident happened Monday afternoon along Mission Street near South Van Ness Avenue, next to the Chevron gas station at 1601 Mission St.

The San Francisco medical examiner identified the victim as Dannielle Spillman, 74, of San Francisco.

According to new information released by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office on Thursday, the suspect had just filled up with gas and was merging into traffic while partially blocking the sidewalk.

Morris said his client was getting gas and heading to Disneyland with his family to celebrate his daughter's 11th birthday. His daughter, a 4-month-old baby, and his wife were all in the car.

Court documents say the 74-year-old Spillman was walking on the sidewalk when she encountered the suspect's vehicle, which had its window down.

The victim walked alongside the car, appearing to take exception to the suspect blocking the sidewalk, according to the documents.

The suspect and victim allegedly exchanged words as the victim walked from the driver's side of the car to the front of the vehicle. Morris confirmed this detail.

At that point, court documents and video obtained by media partner The San Francisco Standard appear to show the victim spill some sort of liquid from a bottle onto the suspect's vehicle.

Morris claimed his client feared the liquid could have been gasoline and believed his family was in danger.

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"If you're at a gas station and someone has a bottle and starts pouring it on your car, you don't know what's going to happen next, right?" Morris said. "So we don't know what that liquid is, but the feeling in the car was that it was a continued assault on the safety of the family."

After that, court documents say the suspect accelerated into the victim, knocking her off her feet and onto the hood of the car.

Morris refuted that account, saying his client panicked.

"He tried to get his family to safety, and he drove away," Morris said. "Tragically, that person walked in front of the car, got onto the hood, fell off and was hurt in the collision."

After driving a few feet, the car appears to slow down, and the victim slides off the hood and onto the ground in front of the vehicle.

The district attorney's release says eyewitnesses claim the driver then ran over the victim, dragging her for several feet before leaving the scene.

Medics declared the victim dead at the scene less than 10 minutes after the incident.

Morris called the murder charge "outrageous" and claimed his client did not flee, saying he initially pulled over.

"In a murder case, the state of mind of the defendant is the key aspect," Morris said. "He told police exactly what was on his mind, which was that he was scared, that he was panicking, that he didn't know what this person was going to do and that he wanted to protect his family and children."

The suspect was later detained by police about a mile away.

Prosecutors say they will seek to hold him without bail due to public safety concerns.

In court Thursday, prosecutors' request to keep the suspect in custody was granted. He is set to appear in court again on Friday, April 24.

The district attorney's office said the case remains an active investigation and urged anyone with information to contact the SFPD Tip Line at 415-575-4444 or text TIP411 and begin the message with "SFPD."