Family Struggles After Local Merchant Murdered

By Alastair Bland

On Aug. 19, at approximately 6 p.m., a customer entering the New California Market on the corner of California Street and 19th Avenue found the cashier and store owner, Jinsun "Lilly" Lee, slumped over the checkout counter, according to Sgt. Steve Mannina, spokesperson for the SF Police Department's Homicide Detail.

Paramedics transported the unresponsive, bleeding woman to St. Mary's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead of a bullet wound.

Lee, 54, owned the New California Market with her husband, who still runs the store. One of the Korean-American couple's three daughters said the family is trying to move on, leaving the unsolved case and unexplained tragedy behind them.

"There was no robbery. There was nothing missing from the store. It's strange," the daughter said.

Lee and her husband had owned the store for 10 years. Although neither spoke fluent English, the community had grown to know and like the couple, and their daughter said that neighborhood locals have expressed compassion and sorrow in the weeks following Lee's death.

"Our customers and neighbors have been really nice. They brought in flowers and cards and have been really supportive."

"I've been going there since I started working here in 2000," said a youth counselor at the Richmond Recreation Center on 18th Avenue, who did not want to be identified. "All of us knew who she was and she knew us. Everyone's in shock. The kids here knew her, too. They'd go down there all the time to buy candy and drinks. Nothing like this ever happens in this neighborhood. There's not even graffiti here, and there's never violence. We're totally shocked."

The counselor said that many of the kids who spend afternoons at the Rec. Center were disturbed by the killing.

"A lot of the kids are scared to go to the store anymore. It's just too weird for some of them. It's kind of sad."

Another resident of the neighborhood said that with the SF Police Department producing little to no developments in the case, rumors have been circulating. "There was an intramural basketball game that day. I know they sometimes had trouble with those kids shoplifting. It could have been one of them. But the neighbors heard nothing."

Reportedly, the store's security camera had broken two weeks before the slaying.

"It's a complete mystery and it's horrible. Nobody knows anything. No one even knew a crime had happened until later, when they found the bullet wound."

A man who lives a block away from the market also reported hearing various rumors and theories among locals.

"Well, I heard that she was shot with a .22. Some people feel that the suspects are some kids who were playing basketball that day, but this is all just talk. It's still a very active subject around here."

He said he shops frequently at the store and that the Lees have always been friendly and congenial.

"There's often a perception that corner stores are unpleasant places, associated with drugs and underage drinking, but none of this was true at their store. It's a nice place."

Irina Chatsovh, crime prevention specialist at San Francisco SAFE, a safety education organization, said she is planning on organizing one or more neighborhood watch groups in the area surrounding the New California Market.

"A neighborhood watch group is basically a group of people who live on the same block. They meet regularly and discuss concerns about the area and address them," she said.

San Francisco SAFE is planning another meeting at the Richmond Rec. Center on Oct. 10, although that date has not been finalized. Capt. Sandra Tong of the Richmond Station is planning to attend.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting at New California Market is asked to call SFPD homicide investigators at 553-1145, or at an anonymous tip line, 575-4444. For more information about San Francisco SAFE's community organizing efforts, call 553-1968.