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S.F. drug dealer convicted of burning homeless addict alive

Jill May is shown Nov. 4, 2004, in San Francisco. On Jan. 12, 2007, she was kidnapped off the street and taken to Candlestick Park, doused with gasoline and set on fire.
(Brant Ward / Associated Press)
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A homeless woman’s longtime drug dealer was found guilty Tuesday of dousing her with gasoline and burning her alive in a parking lot at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Mia Sagote, 36, of San Francisco was found guilty of murder, robbery and kidnapping that led to the death of 49-year-old Jill May, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

May, according to the Chronicle, was addicted to crack cocaine and worked as a prostitute. She was struggling to turn things around when her longtime partner, Ricky Smith, refused to give Sagote $150 he owed for crack, according to police.

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Sagote found May on a Tenderloin sidewalk on Jan. 11, 2007, beat her and stripped her naked. When May told a police officer about the attack, word of her confession made its way back to Sagote.

The next day, Sagote returned with another drug dealer and kidnapped May, took her to a parking lot at Candlestick Park and burned her alive.

Prosecutors, according to the Chronicle, said Sagote made May kneel on the pavement while she doused her with gas and then lit a sock and threw it at her.

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Twitter: @aribloomekatz | Facebook

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

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