Tech guide Nima Momeni was discovered responsible on Tuesday of brutally stabbing CashApp founder Bob Lee to loss of life throughout a drug-fueled dispute over Momeni’s sister.
After seven full days of deliberation, the 12-member jury convicted Momeni, 39, of second-degree homicide. He now faces a sentence of 15 years to life in jail.
Nevertheless, they didn’t discover him responsible of probably the most severe potential cost, first-degree homicide, which that they had been instructed might solely apply in the event that they have been satisfied Momeni killed Lee “willfully, intentionally, and with premeditation.”
Lee, 43, was stabbed by the guts underneath San Francisco’s Bay Bridge on April 4, 2023. He referred to as 911 and begged for assist as he wandered the streets, leaving a path of blood behind. He instructed the dispatcher that somebody had stabbed him, however didn’t title his killer in his dying breaths.
Cops quickly zeroed in on Momeni, who had been noticed on surveillance video with Lee simply half-hour earlier than the stabbing.
Prosecutors alleged that Momeni was getting revenge on behalf of his youthful sister, Khazar Elyassnia, who was having an affair with Lee. Elyassnia testified in courtroom that she was sexually assaulted by Lee’s drug supplier on the day earlier than the murder. Prosecutors instructed the jury that Momeni described himself as an “overprotective large brother” and that he blamed Lee for the assault.
The prosecution instructed jurors that Momeni lured Lee to a secluded place after which viciously stabbed him with a kitchen knife he had taken from his sister’s condominium.
Lee was discovered with ketamine and different medication in his system on the time of his loss of life, and had reportedly been ingesting with Momeni and Elyassnia the day earlier than his homicide.
Through the six-week trial, Momeni took the stand on his personal behalf, testifying that he acted in self-defense after Lee obtained aggressive with him.
“I made a nasty joke,” Momeni instructed the jurors. ‘I mentioned, ‘If it was my final evening on the town, I’d go hang around with my household as an alternative of f–king round in strip golf equipment.’ It set him off. He simply blew up in entrance of me. He went from zero to 1 hundred.”
Momeni then testified that Lee pulled a knife on him, and he merely fought again.
However prosecutors disputed the story, telling jurors that Lee was unarmed when he was stabbed. Cops later discovered a knife close to the scene with Lee’s DNA on the blade, and Momeni’s DNA on the deal with.
The choice was reached late Monday, with the announcement delayed till the next morning.
The jury was in a position to contemplate 4 potential verdicts: Responsible of first-degree homicide, responsible of voluntary manslaughter, responsible of involuntary manslaughter, or not responsible.
Throughout jury directions, the decide instructed the jurors {that a} first-degree homicide conviction was acceptable if Momeni killed Lee “willfully, intentionally, and with premeditation.”
If jurors believed Momeni’s self-defense declare, they might convict him of manslaughter — or discover him not responsible.
Lee was a rising star within the Bay Space tech business. He based the corporate Money App. Beforehand, he had labored for Google as a software program engineer, and in addition served as an govt for MobileCoin.
