An 84-year-old man was on his morning walk. A 19-year-old ran up from behind and shoved him to the ground hard enough to kill him. The attack was caught on surveillance camera. The killer was convicted.
On Thursday, a San Francisco judge set him free.
Her reason: traumatic childhood.
Here’s the video of the attack so you can know just how heinous and unprovoked this offense was, but be warned its graphic.
This is the video of what happened to Vicha Ratanapakdee on the morning of January 28, 2021, in San Francisco’s Anza Vista neighborhood. Antoine Watson — 19 years old at the time — ran up to the 84-year-old Thai immigrant without warning, without provocation, without any interaction at all, and shoved him violently to the ground. Ratanapakdee struck his head on the pavement and died in the hospital two days later.
He was 84 years old. He was taking a walk. He never saw it coming. He never had a chance.
Watson was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and assault — the jury acquitted him of murder and elder abuse charges. He faced up to 11 years behind bars.
Judge Linda Colfax of San Francisco Superior Court sentenced him to eight years. Then she suspended the entire sentence.
Because Watson had already served approximately five years in county jail since his arrest, Judge Colfax released him immediately — to his mother’s home in Hayward. He gets five years of probation, weekly therapy sessions, and regular check-ins with a probation officer.
That’s it. He walked out.
Judge Colfax said Watson had a “traumatic childhood.” She said he suffered from PTSD. She said he “expressed remorse.” She concluded he “did not pose a danger to society” and that additional prison time would negatively impact his rehabilitation — that Watson and “public safety would be served” better by probation than by prison.
There’s one problem with that reasoning. Vicha Ratanapakdee’s family says Watson showed no remorse at the sentencing hearing. None. His daughter Monthanus Ratanapakdee watched the entire proceeding and told reporters afterward: “I didn’t get justice for my father.”
The family released a statement saying the outcome “sends the wrong message about protecting our seniors and public safety.”
Even San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins — who prosecuted the case — publicly broke with the judge. “Justice was not served by this sentence,” Jenkins said.
The prosecutor said justice wasn’t served. The victim’s family said justice wasn’t served. Judge Linda Colfax decided Watson’s PTSD and troubled upbringing outweighed all of it.
## What This Case Was Supposed to Mean
Vicha Ratanapakdee’s death made national headlines when the video emerged in early 2021. His face appeared on protest signs. Politicians gave speeches. “Stop Asian Hate” became a rallying cry. Community leaders demanded accountability. Prosecutors promised justice for elderly Asian Americans who had been targeted in a wave of street violence across the country.
The family waited five years.
On Thursday, they watched Antoine Watson walk out of a San Francisco courtroom a free man, heading to his mother’s house in Hayward with a therapy appointment on his calendar.
Watson is 25 years old. He has the rest of his life ahead of him.
Vicha Ratanapakdee was 84. He had a morning walk ahead of him — until a stranger decided to shove him into the pavement for no reason at all.
San Francisco gave Watson a second chance. It never gave Vicha one.
And Judge Linda Colfax put her name on that.