Man charged in 1992 killing of woman found in S.F. Chinatown alley 9%
By Annie Vainshtein0%
7/23/2026, 12:30:53 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Anchoring Bias, Biased Writer Voice, and Recency Bias, with Confirmation Bias as the most egregious example at 20.1% saturation with 66 hits. Analysis detected 414 faulty-reasoning hits from 329 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 26.4% and a BS Rank of 9% (18,504 of 20,298 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 91.20% of the article peer group.
San Francisco prosecutors have charged a man suspected of sexually assaulting and killing an unhoused woman in a Chinatown alley in 1992 — a case that until last year had been cold.
Ricky Dawson, 65, was charged with murder and recently extradited from Colorado, where he was already serving a life sentence in connection with a 1996 sexual assault murder, officials said Wednesday.
He was arraigned on Monday in San Francisco and pleaded not guilty, prosecutors said.
Dawson, a prolific offender, was also charged with a special circumstance related to a 2004 conviction in Florida involving a sexual assault murder.
A judge ordered Dawson to remain in custody and set no bail.
His next court date is July 30.
Dawson was identified as a suspect in January 2025 after the San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Unit reopened its investigation into the death of Nancy Hernandez, 45.
Police were not immediately able to identify Hernandez but later determined she had been using a utility corridor along Hang Ah Alley — where she was found dead — as shelter.
The block is a tiny alleyway off the corner of Stockton and Sacramento streets.
She had been badly beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.
Prosecutors say the forensic pathologist concluded the cause of death to be asphyxia due to strangulation.
Officials say they tied Dawson to the crime through DNA testing.
Swabs to confirm she had been the victim of sexual assault were sent to the Crime Lab in 2005.
In 2023, the Homicide Cold Case Unit reopened its investigation.
Analyzing the DNA profiles from the swab found that they matched Dawson, who had been linked to several other sexual assault homicides in Denver, Seattle and Florida.
He was convicted of one, charged in another and linked to a third at the time of their findings and was awaiting trial for murder in Denver, which led to a conviction.
Analysis
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