Overview
- The ambush occurred on Oct. 30, 2020, when Ueta Muasika, known as Juice Boi, was shot 14 times in his San Mateo driveway and died while his 2-year-old son was wounded and survived.
- Defendants John Talia Paasi and Isileli Mahe fled the state after the killing and were arrested in 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Honolulu, Hawaii, respectively, before being returned to California for trial.
- A 24-day jury trial in March 2026 found both men guilty of first-degree murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm under a theory of aiding and abetting because investigators could not determine which man fired the deadly shots.
- On Wednesday Judge Michael K. Wendler sentenced both men to life in prison without the possibility of parole and denied a defense request for a new trial; one defense attorney has said he will appeal.
- Prosecutors tied the killing to a 2019 arson that killed 85-year-old Susana Tonga and said Muasika was an innocent target, a link that underscores how retaliatory violence and aiding-and-abetting law shaped the case and its community impact.