Overview

• Chunli Zhao, 68, has been charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the January 23, 2023, shootings at two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms that left seven migrant workers dead.
• This marks San Mateo County’s first pursuit of a death sentence in over 15 years after District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe’s office conducted an April review of the case.
• Any death sentence would remain on hold under Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2019 moratorium, which halted all executions and began dismantling San Quentin’s death row.
• Prosecutors allege the rampage was sparked by a workplace grudge over a $100 equipment repair fee at California Terra Garden before continuing at Concord Farms.
• The massacre exposed substandard farmworker housing conditions and prompted reforms including new affordable housing offerings for agricultural laborers.