Zavein Wright had been arrested 11 times since 2019 on charges from assault to kidnapping — then he attacked my friend

Part 1 of a two-part series

As a San Francisco journalist, I’ve covered dozens of violent criminal cases, but I had never known any of the victims personally until Oct. 5, 2023. That was the day the husband of my longtime editor for the Marina Times and now for The Voice of San Francisco, Lynette Majer, was brutally attacked in the Marina District.

On a Thursday morning at approximately 7:45 a.m., 80-year-old Ken Majer was walking his little dog, Daisy, at the corner of Baker and Bay streets across from the Palace of Fine Arts when he was confronted by a large Black male. Ken says he didn’t know the person, and only saw his face briefly before the man forcefully knocked him to the sidewalk. Ken’s head hit the sidewalk, and as he lay there stunned, he noticed neighbors gathering around him. One woman was calling 911 while several others helped him sit up, noting that he was bleeding profusely from the back of his head. Officers from the San Francisco Police Department and an ambulance soon arrived, and Ken was taken to the emergency room at Saint Francis Hospital. He received a CAT scan to determine his injuries and he required 17 staples to close the wound in his head. Meanwhile, back home, Lynette was wondering who would be ringing the doorbell at such an early hour. It was the paramedics dropping off Daisy, which, she says, “they did as a courtesy because that isn’t protocol.” After a six-hour hospital stay, Ken was discharged and allowed to return home.

Later that day, Ken’s assailant, Zavein Blue Wright, was apprehended and charged with elder abuse, battery with serious injury, criminal threats, and assault with bodily injury. Public records list an address for Wright in Bakersfield, Calif., from Oct. 6, 2020 to Jan 31, 2024, but he has been a fixture in the Marina for most of that time, where he is known by residents for his erratic and threatening behavior and for following young females. One person described seeing Wright trap two young girls in the doorway of a building, refusing to let them go until she shouted at him and called police. Between 2019 and 2023, Wright, now 31, was arrested in San Francisco 11 times for crimes including kidnapping, peeking and prowling while loitering on private property, attempted burglary, grand theft, vandalism over $5,000, assault, trespassing, contempt of court, disorderly conduct, false imprisonment by violence, unauthorized entry of a dwelling, and threats of violence. Wright was arrested for Assault w/Any Means of Force – Likely To Produce Great Bodily Injury on May 23, 2018 in Marin County, and four times in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2020, Nov. 8, 2020, Oct. 23, 2022 and Aug. 9, 2023. He was also arrested four times in San Francisco for False Imprisonment By Violence, on Oct. 14, 2020, Nov. 8, 2020, Sept. 9, 2020, and Oct. 23, 2022.

In Ken’s case, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office filed charges of elder abuse, battery with serious injury, criminal threats, and assault with bodily injury. At an arraignment held Nov. 6, 2023, Wright pleaded not guilty to three of the counts. The fourth count, criminal threats, was dropped. Wright was ordered held without bail at County Jail No. 3 in San Bruno. At a hearing in December, there was a plea of mental incompetency.

On June 26, 2024, I attended a hearing for Wright at 850 Bryant in Department 15, which is San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. According to their website, the Court’s mission is to “enhance public safety and reduce recidivism of criminal defendants who suffer from serious mental illness by connecting these defendants with community treatment services, and to find appropriate dispositions to the criminal charges by considering the defendant’s mental illness and the seriousness of the offense.” The presiding judge, Charles Crompton, is known among critics for his leniency. “Judge Crompton lets everyone out,” said a former assistant district attorney. In fact, Crompton presided over the infamous Patrick Thompson case.

On May 4, 2021, San Francisco police officers responded to a report of two women stabbed at Fourth and Stockton streets just before 5 p.m. The victims, ages 63 and 84, were suffering from multiple stab wounds. Both were transported to the hospital, the 84-year-old with life-threatening injuries — the assailant stabbed her with such force that the handle broke off and the blade punctured her lung. Two hours later, police arrested 54-year-old Patrick Thompson. In and out of Behavioral Health Court and jail, Thompson had been released by judges numerous times prior to this incident despite the violent nature of his crimes.

A review of Thompson’s record revealed he had been charged with three separate cases in 2017: misdemeanor contempt of court order, felony assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and battery, and felony battery with serious bodily injury. In November 2017, a judge declared Thompson incompetent, and in February 2018 he was transferred to Napa State Hospital for the mentally ill. One of those 2017 incidents was incredibly violent. Crossing guard Benjamin Gonzalez, who previously worked security at a homeless shelter along Fifth and Bryant streets, described how a man was resting on his bed when Thompson, unprovoked, came up and stabbed him in the chest with a pair of scissors. “The look on his face was unbelievable … so calm and very violent, and he tried to push him out the window — he was halfway out the window,” Gonzalez recalled.

In January 2019, Thompson was accepted into San Francisco’s mental health diversion program which the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said he “successfully completed” in August 2020. They filed a motion before Judge Crompton to dismiss Thompson’s case which, after a brief hearing, he did. Shockingly, just five months prior, Thompson threatened a female police officer with an axe. Two additional officers arrived on scene at which point Thompson dropped the axe, turned to the officers, and said, “If it was up to me, I’d kill everything that stands.” He then disclosed he was “a mental patient.”

Having observed in Department 15 a number of times, I knew what to expect on June 26, 2024 for Ken’s case. A representative of the District Attorney’s Office (this time via Zoom), someone from the Public Defender’s Office (seated in the courtroom), and Judge Crompton on the bench with a thick stack of case files. On this particular day, the court would discuss two dozen defendants. As Crompton opened each file, the district attorney would ask for the defendant to be held, usually due to the violent nature of the crime, and the public defender would say, “He served his 180 days,” (the maximum jail hold for mental health court). The back-and-forth among lawyers and the judge sounded like an auction: “Incompetent, incompetent, incompetent” … “Medication; placement report” … “Doesn’t have capacity to decide on medication” … “He’s a danger to himself and others” … “IMO [involuntary medication order]” …

A few times, the attorneys lost track of which person they were talking about. Judge Crompton lost track even more frequently. All three would stammer and mumble as they shuffled through files and tried to regroup.

Victims were never mentioned as a factor in their decisions. The topic of substance abuse, a common denominator for most violent mentally ill individuals, came up only once, with regard to a defendant who had “issues with alcohol.”

In almost every case, Crompton released the defendant either to diversion or to a minimum-security facility or a halfway house. Only one other person, a crime victim, was seated in the gallery. As her case came up, she struggled to decipher the legalese flying around the room. Afterward the victim called the public defender over to ask what had just happened, and he calmly explained that her attacker was being sent to “a minimum-security place … Golden Gate-something.” The woman began to shake. “Where? In San Francisco?” she asked. “Yes,” the public defender said. “Where?” the victim asked. “I don’t know,” the public defender responded robotically. The woman, now in tears, rushed out of the courtroom.

An hour or so into the proceedings, case number 22 was called: Zavein Blue Wright. Like the majority of defendants in Behavioral Health Court, Wright’s appearance was waived (only one defendant appeared in court that day, straight from jail). After a brief conversation and a glance at a May 2024 report, Wright was judged incompetent to stand trial. The public defender wanted him released. The district attorney did not. The judge pointed out that he was admitted to the Department of State Hospitals on April 4, 2024. “He is already placed and he’s doing fine where he is,” Crompton said, and closed the file. “Next case …”

Victim impact statement

On Jan. 13, 2025, Ken wrote a victim impact statement titled, Effects of Assault Incident on Oct.5, 2023, in which he stated,

I am experiencing increasing declines with a number of physical and cognitive issues since the assault. These declines seem to be beyond normal aging. I am unstable, lack of balance, and shuffling when walking. I have tripped and fallen a number of times in the past year including a fall that required 12 stiches above my right eye. My memory and recall have been problematic, and I seem to be increasingly impatient. In addition, although I exercise regularly (to the gym 4-5 times per week), my stamina and muscle strength have declined noticeably. Swelling and stiffness in my hands and general lack of flexibility (back, arms, shoulders) again seem beyond normal aging. I don’t sleep well unless I take over-the-counter sleep medication (Tylenol PM or Ibuprofen PM). My life has changed since the incident. I am emotionally uneasy about traveling, especially by air, and therefore my income from my business consulting profession has been curtailed. I also have far less interest in socializing with friends and colleagues. I have been seeing my primary physician, who has referred me to a number of specialists. My ophthalmologist recently recommended imaging to rule out chronic subdural hematoma. My concerns are for my personal well-being and for the safety of others if Zavien Blue Wright is released into the community as part of the Mental Health Diversion Program. His history of mental instability and his actions present a danger to the public.

Oscar Gonzalez, a victim advocate for elder abuse in the Victim Services Division of the District Attorney’s Office, updated Ken on the latest decision by Judge Crompton, and it wasn’t good news:

“There is no disposition in this case, rather a Mental Health Ruling. Criminal proceedings have been suspended, not terminated,” Gonzalez said in an email. “As for the residential treatment program, I will continue to monitor the case. Next court date is scheduled for 2/19/25 for status of placement. I will update you after the hearing.”

Judge Harry Jacobs was sitting in for Crompton at the Feb. 19 hearing. Wright was in the courtroom and Ken appeared on Zoom. When asked if he wanted to make a statement, Ken pointed to Wright’s long, violent record, making him a clear danger to the community. The public defender recommended 90 days at Baker Street House, a residential treatment facility “dedicated to providing comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.” The facility is situated at 730 Baker Street, the website says, “making it easily accessible via local public transportation.” Nancy Tung, chief of the Vulnerable Victims Unit for the District Attorney’s Office, objected to Wright’s release. Judge Jacobs said he wasn’t the one to make that decision because he was only sitting in. The next hearing is scheduled for March 24, 2025.

Tung called Ken the next day and said she was unable to disclose details about Wright due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which assures that an individual’s health information is properly protected. She did explain the guidelines for Wright’s impending release. During the 30-day blackout period, he would not be permitted to leave the facility except for court dates and doctor appointments. He also must follow the facility’s rules, such as taking his medications and not causing any problems with staff or other residents. Should Wright break the rules, his case manager is supposed to go to the judge who should order a warrant for his arrest. After 30 days, they “loosen some of those rules,” Tung said, but she couldn’t explain what that meant. Currently, Wright is in jail awaiting another interview regarding his acceptance into the program should Judge Crompton approve it, which he likely will. If Wright is accepted into the program, he will be “escorted from jail directly to Baker Street House.” Ken asked if it was possible to overturn the judge’s decision, to which Tung responded it would require “a writ being reviewed by an appellate court.”

A Feb. 20 phone call with victim advocate Gonzalez left Ken feeling even more uneasy as the onus for safety was squarely on the victim. “Do you have a safety plan?” Gonzalez asked. “This will be ongoing — do you want a therapist to talk to? Do you have cameras in and around your home? Are you comfortable calling 911? Do you know where the nearest police station is? Do you carry pepper spray or mace?” Ken, feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed, emailed Tung to ask about a promised criminal protective order, which would require Wright to stay 150 feet away. She said either she or Gonzalez would be in touch.

Part 2 Preview: When do violent, criminal acts trump mental incapacity and substance disorder? Why can’t Zavien Blue Wright, who is a clear danger to society, be committed to a locked facility? Does someone have to die before that happens? It’s complicated, according to Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, a longtime advocate for getting better help and placement for the mentally ill. For starters, he says, the city doesn’t have the space or the money. “On one hand I’m pushing for San Francisco to do more, but I think it’s really hard for a municipality to do this on our own … Things are seriously broken.”