San Francisco woman beaten to death in home invasion identified, homeless man charged

Thirty-eight-year-old Jessica Alejandra Sanchez Landaverde has been identified as woman beaten to death inside her home Sunday, as prosecutors move to charge a homeless repeat offender with her murder.

Cassidy Allen, 45, was charged Wednesday with one count of murder, including a special-circumstance allegation that the killing occurred during a first-degree burglary, along with first-degree residential burglary, according to San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

According to newly filed court documents, on November 23, at approximately 2:52 p.m., officers with the San Francisco Police Department were dispatched to the 200 block of Granada Avenue on a report of a burglary where the suspect had recently fled the scene.  

Upon arrival, officers spoke to a tenant who said when she arrived, she heard someone from inside of the home run to the door and lock it. Terrified and alarmed, she ran back to her vehicle and called 911.

Prior to entering the unit, officers observed that the window to the left of the front door was ajar and the interior blinds were partially bent and disturbed. Yet, the front door appeared undisturbed. 

As officers entered the unit and stood in the hallway, they observed a partially opened bedroom door. When officers pushed the door open, they observed the victim lying on her back, at the foot of the bed with her head pointed towards the bedroom door. 

Allen was arrested a short time later during an unrelated welfare check at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard after officers spotted a man on the sidewalk matching the suspect description. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into county jail at 8:19 a.m. Monday.  

Neighbors of the victim told The Post that Sanchez Landaverde largely kept to herself. Many said they knew most people in the surrounding blocks, but not her. One neighbor said they had seen the suspect, Allen, “lurking around the neighborhood” in the days before the killing.

Court records reviewed by The California Post reveal Allen was enrolled in a diversion program, despite prior arrests for second-degree robbery, battery, assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting injury on an elder or dependent adult, and possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia.

Prosecutors say they will seek to keep Allen locked up pending trial, calling him a threat to public safety.