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Committee backs renaming 1500 block of Grove Street for Aubrey Abarcasa Jr.
Summary
The Land Use and Transportation Committee unanimously recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve designating the 1500 block of Grove Street as Aubrey Abarcasa Jr. Street to honor a 17-year-old murdered in 2006 and to call attention to gun-violence prevention.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Sept. 9 unanimously recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a commemorative renaming of the 1500 block of Grove Street to honor Aubrey Abarcasa Jr., a 17-year-old who was fatally shot in August 2006.
Supervisor Dean Preston, who introduced the resolution, described Aubrey as a student at Raoul Wallenberg High School and a part-time coach at the Bernal Heights Recreation Center. Preston told the committee that on Aug. 14, 2006, unknown assailants fired "30 rounds from a semi automatic gun," striking Aubrey and leading to his death at San Francisco General Hospital.
Paulette Brown, Aubrey's mother, told the committee about the personal toll of the unsolved homicide and her long-running advocacy for victims. "I just took my hands and closed his eyes," Brown said as she recounted arriving at the hospital. Brown described organizing vigils, attending police-commission hearings and supporting other survivors through a local Healing Circle; she urged supervisors to approve the renaming as a permanent public remembrance and a call to action.
SFPD Chief Scott expressed the department's continued commitment to the investigation, saying the department "will continue to stand by Miss Brown" and that investigators remain assigned to the case.
Public comment at the hearing featured a series of community speakers, including a representative of the Police Commission and former Supervisor John Avalos, who framed the renaming as recognition of families still seeking justice for unsolved homicides in the Western Addition during 2005–2006. Multiple residents and community leaders urged approval on grounds of remembrance and community healing.
Vice Chair Dean Preston moved to forward the resolution with a positive recommendation to the full Board. The committee recorded three "Aye" votes — Vice Chair Preston, Member Peskin, and Chair Melgar — and the motion passed.
The committee's recommendation sends the renaming to the full Board of Supervisors for final action on the Board agenda scheduled for Sept. 17, 2024.
