Overview

• District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced on June 3 that he will pursue the death penalty for Chunli Zhao, accused of killing seven farmworkers and wounding another in the Jan. 23, 2023 attacks.
• The decision breaks a more than 15-year hiatus on capital cases in San Mateo County despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2019 moratorium on executions.
• Prosecutors allege Zhao’s rampage at California Terra Garden and Concord Farms was triggered by a workplace grudge over a $100 equipment repair bill.
• Zhao, 68, surrendered to authorities hours after the shootings and remains held without bail as his trial date has yet to be set.
• The 2023 massacre exposed deplorable farmworker housing and spurred local reforms aimed at improving living conditions for migrant laborers.