Fifita Tau
An East Palo Alto man who allegedly set fire to a San Mateo home in a gang dispute that killed an 86-year-old woman has pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and will be sentenced April 12, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.
Fifita Ponifasion Tau, 28, allegedly set fire to a home on South Humboldt Street while targeting members of the West Side Tonga gang who he blamed for violence against family members in the Eastside Shoreview Crips, the DA’s Office said.
Tau set the fire because he believed the gang members lived there, but it was actually the home of their 86-year-old grandmother, the DA’s Office said. She died in the fire.
Tau pleaded no contest Tuesday. He can receive anywhere from 40 years to life in prison. He remains in custody on no-bail status.
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