Homeless man accused of breaking into woman’s home, beating her to death — months after judge released him
A homeless drug addict with a lengthy criminal past has been accused of strangling a woman to death, a felony that occurred just a few months after a judge had steered him into a diversion program for another violent offense, according to police statements and court filings.
Police report that 45‑year‑old Cassidy Wyatt Allen was taken into custody several hours after officers discovered a severely injured woman in her home on the 200 block of Granada Avenue about 3:04 p.m. Sunday.
Despite “life‑saving efforts by first responders and medical personnel,” the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, the San Francisco Police Department said.
Investigators didn’t have to hunt far to locate Allen. A separate welfare check led officers to him lying on a nearby sidewalk, according to a police source, and he was arrested without incident.
Allen was booked into the San Francisco County Jail at 8:19 a.m. Monday on charges of murder and first‑degree burglary and is being held without bail.
A deeper look into Allen’s record shows this isn’t his first brush with the law. Court documents reviewed by The California Post indicate he had been enrolled in a diversion program after earlier arrests for second‑degree robbery, battery, assault with a deadly weapon, harming an elder or dependent adult, and possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia.
California’s diversion programs allow judges to divert defendants—often those with mental‑health or substance‑use issues—away from jail into treatment. If the program is successfully completed, the charges may be reduced or dismissed.
Allen’s case adds to the growing criticism of these programs. Opponents argue that such diversion can release dangerous or unstable offenders back onto the streets under the pretext of treatment.
Mental‑health diversion has come under particular scrutiny in several high‑profile incidents in Los Angeles, where District Attorney Nathan Hochman has challenged judges for releasing potentially dangerous individuals.
The most recent flashpoint began in September, when a state appeals court reversed Judge Lana Kim’s decision to grant pretrial diversion to Job Uriah Taylor, who had allegedly carried out a hate‑driven pipe attack near a Santa Monica Expo Line station that left a homeless Black man permanently disabled.
Hochman’s office contended Taylor was a public‑safety threat and had a history of abandoning treatment. The appellate panel concurred, finding no evidence that Taylor would comply with medication or other conditions if released.
Hochman criticized the initial ruling that sent Taylor into diversion rather than trial.
“This diversion was a miscarriage of justice,” he said. “Under ODR’s voluntary structure, at any moment Taylor can walk out, and they can’t stop him. The public deserves better than a system that releases dangerous offenders on the honor system.”
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