On May 14, 2025, 61-year-old Chalay Saelee, a male from San Francisco, was shot near Fisherman’s Wharf in the early afternoon. Police dispatches placed the initial gunfire around 1:10 p.m., at or near the intersection of Columbus Avenue and North Point Street. Officers soon located 61-year-old Chalay Saelee in his vehicle at Leavenworth and Beach streets; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities publicly confirmed his identity through the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office in the days that followed.
Detectives quickly focused on a suspect vehicle seen in the area. Investigators later said a man in one car fired at another occupied vehicle before fleeing. Within hours, a 44-year-old suspect, Abraham Torres, surrendered at a nearby police station, according to San Francisco police and local reporting that reviewed surveillance and witness evidence from the tourist corridor.
By that week’s end, prosecutors charged Abraham Torres with murder and with possession of a firearm by a felon. Accounts described shots fired from the suspect’s vehicle into the victim’s Honda SUV as it attempted to drive away. While the charging documents moved forward, officials emphasized that the broader investigation remained active and that no public motive had been established.
Family members described 61-year-old Chalay Saelee, male, as a father of four whose death left relatives working to cover funeral costs, underscoring the suddenness of the violence that cut across a stretch of the Wharf usually crowded with visitors. Community memorial pages and a family fundraiser captured the ripple of grief that followed the killing, even as detectives and prosecutors continued to assemble the timeline of events and prepare the case against the accused gunman.
