SF man stabbed while walking son from school remembered as ‘devoted father’

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A San Francisco man who police say was fatally stabbed after picking his young son up from school last week is being remembered as a “devoted father, a loving son, and a joyful presence to everyone who knew him.” Robert Byrd II had just picked up his son around 4:40 p.m. last Wednesday, Sept. 10 when he was fatally stabbed in SF’s Taraval district.

“This senseless act of violence has left us all deeply shocked and heartbroken,” said a fundraiser organized by an SF Schools Parent Club Organization on Bryd’s family’s behalf. Byrd is being remembered as “someone who brought laughter and warmth wherever he went,” and “a person who took life seriously but always found ways to share joy.”

Byrd’s greatest love, according to the fundraiser, “was his son, who was holding his hand in the moments before this tragedy occurred.”

Byrd, 35, had just picked his son up at the Commodore Sloat Elementary School last Wednesday when he was attacked, according to the San Francisco Police Department. SFPD Interim Chief Paul Yep called the attack “horrific.”

“A father who was walking across the street with his son was fatally stabbed in the crosswalk after getting into an altercation with the suspect,” Yep said. Officers responded to the scene and Byrd was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“I know this case has been particularly disturbing to the community, and parents, and students,” Yep said at a news conference Friday.

The suspect in the homicide initially evaded police. Around 60 officers were assigned to the case and the suspect was later identified as 42-year-old Daniel Patrick Rodriguez Jr. Using automated license plate readers, surveillance cameras, a drone and witness leads, detectives tracked Rodriguez down in Tuolumne County — about 160 miles away from where the stabbing occurred — and arrested him Friday morning.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office will announce charges after thoroughly reviewing the case.

“We do ask for your patience in allowing us to review all of the evidence that still needs to be collected,” Jenkins said. “We do still have outstanding witness interviews that need to happen so that we can make a comprehensive decision about what to do going forward.”