Kevin Prasad, left, and Donovan Rivera could both get the death penalty in the fatal shooting of a California man, authorities said. (San Mateo County Sheriff's Office)
A California man who spent months trying in vain to date a female co-worker has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of her boyfriend, authorities said Tuesday.
The crime was committed on the woman’s last day of work before she, her boyfriend and their 3-year-old child were to relocate to Las Vegas, according to police.
Kevin Prasad, 31, who worked at San Francisco International Airport, was charged along with a second man, identified as Donovan Matthew Rivera, 25, of Hayward, Calif.
Rivera was the getaway driver, but also faces a murder charge because he “was aware” of Prasad’s plan, police said.
Police said Prasad and Rivera can both possibly face the death penalty, because a “lying in wait” special circumstance was added to the murder charges.
The victim, Mark Mangaccat, 31, was shot multiple times from close range April 25 in the driveway of his Daly City home, as he was backing his vehicle into the garage. The woman was a passenger in the car at the time, but was unhurt, police said.
Until recently, the woman also worked at the airport, police said.
“She kept telling this guy, ‘No, I have a boyfriend, I’m in a relationship,’ ” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Mercury News of San Jose, Calif. “She always pushed him away.”
Mangaccat worked at the airport as well, until suffering a leg injury, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Investigators believe Prasad killed Mangaccat in a bid to have a romantic relationship with the woman, Wagstaffe said, adding that Prasad worked for Covenant Aviation Security, a security contractor for the airport.
“'If he’s out of the way, I can be the guy who comes in.' That’s his thought process,” Wagstaffe told the newspaper.
“'If he’s out of the way, I can be the guy who comes in.' That’s his thought process.”
Wagstaffe credited Daly City police with cracking the case.
According to the Bee, the woman did not immediately recognize Prasad as the shooter because he wore a hood at the time.
But in discussing the case with investigators, she told them about Prasad having been bothering her at work, and that eventually led to the arrest, the Bee reported.
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