A sex worker accused of killing a 32-year-old man in San Francisco at Crissy Field said she shot the victim after he demanded his money back when she told him she was transgender, according to a filing in U.S. District Court this week.
Leion Butler, 20, is charged with second-degree murder in last month’s killing of Hamza Walupupu, who was found with a gunshot to the head in a parking lot at the federal recreation area. Federal prosecutors allege that Butler killed Walupupu because she “did not want to walk home in the cold” after he refused to give her a ride back to the location he had picked her up from.
On Nov. 12, Butler was working as a sex worker in San Francisco when she was approached by Walupupu, who agreed to a “date” and said he wanted “everything,” the complaint said. Butler and Walupupu discussed a price and she got into his car, according to the complaint.
Butler wanted to pull over nearby but Walupupu drove 20 minutes to Crissy Field, making Butler feel like he was taking her “out of her element,” according to the complaint.
After Butler performed oral sex on Walupupu, he wanted “more,” to which Butler responded that she was transgender, the complaint said. Walupupu, according to the complaint, demanded his money back and Butler refused. “There’s no money back. … I was never giving (the money) back to him,” Butler said, believing she had earned the money, according to the complaint.
The complaint then laid out the moments leading up to the shooting. Walupupu demanded Butler get out of his car, but she refused. The complaint said that she said she “really did not want to walk home,” and believed he should return her to where he picked her up.
After Butler refused to get out of the car, Walupupu began getting out of the car and she took a gun from her purse and shot him, the complaint said. She left his body at Crissy Field and drove to Kiska Road in Hunters Point.
It was there, the complaint said, that she called her mother for help. She wiped down the car in an attempt to remove any fingerprints or DNA that belonged to her, the complaint said. According to the complaint, Butler, advised by her mom, disposed of Walupupu’s backpack as well as her blood-stained clothes, while her mother disposed of the purse she was carrying. Butler gave the gun away to a third party, who prosecutors did not identify, because, she said, “there’s a body on it,” the complaint said.
On Nov. 20, the FBI arrived at Butler’s residence to execute a search warrant and she jumped out of a second-story window and fled, according to the complaint. She was eventually located and arrested by the FBI, the complaint said. The filing requests that Butler should be detained until her trial, saying she is a danger to the community and a flight risk.
The complaint said that Butler’s statements to investigators showed a “cold-calculatedness” and that she did not show remorse, adding that she debated spitting on Walupupu’s body and telling authorities “there’s nothing to cry for at all, there’s nothing.”
According to the complaint, Butler has a “violent criminal record.” The filing cites an incident in June of this year when Butler sprayed bear spray at a crowded concert venue. Police attempted to handcuff Butler but she sprayed bear spray at an officer, according to the complaint. That case is currently pending in San Francisco Superior Court, the complaint said.
David Rizk, Butler’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
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