Two convicted for “cold-blooded” drug-induced murder of elderly gay man

After seven years of delay and a mistrial, the killers of a gay photographer in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks area were found guilty of first-degree murder and now await sentencing in December.

Fantasy Decuir and Lamonte Mims, both 27, were convicted in the robbery and death of Edward French, a 71-year-old photographer who had gone to the scenic hilltop vista to capture sunrise photos.

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About 15 months ago, Dr. Devon Hoover was found shot twice in the head and hidden in his own attic.

Decuir was found guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances, second-degree robbery, and intentional use of a firearm causing death, according to a statement from San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. Mims was found guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances and intentional use of a firearm.

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“The victim was ripped from the lives of his friends and family by this callous killing over a camera,” said Assistant District Attorney Aaron Laycook. 

According to evidence and witness testimony presented at trial, French had gone to Twin Peaks early on the morning of July 16, 2017 to take pictures with his new Canon Mark III camera. Video surveillance revealed Decuir and Mims approaching French and robbing him at gunpoint.

When Mims struggled to pull the camera away from French, Decuir shot him through the heart and right lung. As he lay bleeding on the ground, Mims grabbed the bag from French and kicked him, prosecutors said.

“The jury’s verdict holds Ms. Decuir and Mr. Mims accountable for the cold-blooded murder of an elder in our community doing what he loved to do the morning he was killed in 2017,” Jenkins said following the conviction.

A mistrial was declared in 2023 after Decuir and Mims first appeared before a jury, which failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

In that trial, the defense claimed that Decuir was in a state of unconsciousness when she shot French due to “extreme pain” from sickle cell disease and the “large amounts of opiates prescribed and administered to her to relieve” it, defense attorneys told The Bay Area Reporter.

The killers’ defense team also argued that Decuir had a low IQ and a “lack of adap­tive func­tion­ing.”

Just hours after the murder, Decuir and Mims tried to sell French’s camera downtown on Market Street, a location that would been in his field of view from where he was killed on Twin Peaks.

Twelve days later, Decuir and Mims robbed two tourists at gunpoint, stealing their camera and credit cards. This robbery led to the pair’s apprehension for French’s murder.

At the conclusion of the first trial last year, Brian Higginbotham paid tribute to his deceased partner.

“Ed was amaz­ing. He was born and raised here in San Fran­cisco. He was ‘Mr. San Fran­cisco,’ the nicest per­son. He loved the city he took pic­tures for a liv­ing that showed how beau­ti­ful San Fran­cisco is, and filmed com­mer­cials, and to be up there on that Sun­day morn­ing, for this to hap­pen and for there to be no con­se­quences so far – I could al­most start cry­ing here,” Higginbotham said. “We’ll get jus­tice.”

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