In a crime prosecutors say showed “exceptional depravity,” two San Francisco women stand accused of dousing a longtime homeless woman with gasoline and burning her alive in an apparent witness retaliation slaying.
Mia Sagote, 30, and Leslie Siliga, 29, are believed to have selected the victim, Leslie “Jill” May, 49, after May told police on the day of her death that she had been robbed by Sagote on the street in the Tenderloin the day before.
“The victim was kidnapped off the street and taken to Candlestick Park, doused with gasoline and set on fire,” said Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth. He said the crime was especially heinous and showed “exceptional depravity.”
Authorities say May was first accosted in the Tenderloin the morning of Jan. 11 by Sagote, who was angry that May’s boyfriend owed her $150 on a loan. When May said she had no money, Sagote allegedly slammed May to a wall, then threw her to the ground and punched her face, police said.
Later that morning, Sagote pulled May behind a trash container and stripped the victim of her clothing and cash, leaving her naked behind a garbage bin, authorities say. The incident was witnessed, according to police.
Sagote, who was arrested on Jan. 23, is charged separately in the robbery of May on Jan. 11. Siliga was arrested Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. Both women are charged with murder and murder in commission of a kidnapping, which could lead to life in prison without parole.
Both remain in custody and are scheduled to return to court on Feb. 22.