A homeless San Francisco man is accused of murdering a woman just months after a judge placed him into a pre-trial diversion program despite a long record of violent offenses, according to police sources and court documents.
San Francisco police arrested 45-year-old Cassidy Wyatt Allen on Sunday after officers responding to a burglary call discovered a severely injured woman inside her home on the 200 block of Granada Avenue around 3:04 p.m.
First responders attempted lifesaving measures, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
Officers did not have to search long for a suspect. A separate welfare-check call reportedly led police to Allen, who "appeared to match the description of a person of interest connected to a homicide," the department said.
According to a New York Post police source, Allen was found lying on a nearby sidewalk in the area of 19th Ave. and Sloat Blvd.
Allen was taken into custody without incident and booked into the San Francisco County Jail early Monday morning on suspicion of murder and first-degree burglary. He is being held without bail.
A review of court records by the California Post shows Allen's arrest is the latest chapter in a long history of violent and criminal behavior.
Before being placed into a court-ordered pre-trial diversion program, Allen had been arrested for second-degree robbery, battery, assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting injury on an elder or dependent adult, and possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia.
California's diversion system — often used to redirect offenders with mental health or substance use problems away from jail and into treatment — has come under intense scrutiny as violent offenders continue to be cycled back onto the streets. Charges can be dropped or paused if participants complete treatment programs, a structure that critics say prioritizes ideology over public safety.
Allen's case echoes several high-profile controversies surrounding mental-health diversion in Los Angeles, where District Attorney Nathan Hochman has repeatedly challenged judges who send dangerous defendants into such programs.
One flashpoint occurred last fall, when a state appeals court reversed a judge's decision to grant pre-trial diversion to Job Uriah Taylor, accused of a savage, hate-motivated pipe attack near a Santa Monica train station that left a homeless Black man permanently disabled.
"This diversion was a miscarriage of justice," Hochman said at the time. "Under ODR's voluntary structure, at any moment Taylor can walk out, and they can't stop him. The public deserves better than a system that releases dangerous offenders on the honor system."
San Francisco police said the homicide case remains open and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call 415-575-4444 or text TIP411.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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