He Wanted to Date a Co-worker. So He Killed Her Boyfriend, Officials say

By Marwa Eltagouri | May 3, 2018

Kevin Prasad never seemed threatening. At least not to the woman whose boyfriend Prasad killed, California authorities say.

Prasad, 31, had spent months trying to woo the woman, who authorities say was his co-worker at San Francisco International Airport, where the two provided security services. Prasad on several occasions asked the woman to date him, at one point presenting her with a piece of jewelry. The woman would always rebuff him, explaining she had a 3-year-old child with her longtime boyfriend, 31-year-old Mark Mangaccat.

The woman never felt harassed or endangered by Prasad’s pursuit, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. And after a hooded man approached Mangaccat’s car last week with a gun and shot at him, it didn’t immediately occur to the woman that the killer could be her smitten co-worker.

“Wait, there’s a guy at work who’s been trying to date me,” she told police during an interview, after explaining that Mangaccat had no gang affiliations or enemies, according to Wagstaffe.

Police took that information and “ran with it,” Wagstaffe told The Washington Post Wednesday. “Ultimately, it led to Mr. Prasad.”

Prasad and his friend, 25-year-old Donovan Matthew Rivera, now face the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty, Wagstaffe said. Both men are charged with first-degree murder, but with an enhancement of lying in wait – meaning that because the men allegedly ambushed Mangaccat, they are eligible for a more severe punishment than that of a regular murder charge, Wagstaffe said.

Prasad and Rivera are additionally charged with assault with a firearm and firing into an occupied vehicle, Wagstaffe said.

Prasad and the woman had an amicable relationship, Wagstaffe said, and still did on April 25, the woman’s last day of work at the airport. She told Prasad she was leaving because she was moving to Las Vegas with Mangaccat and their child. Prasad had met Mangaccat before in passing, as Mangaccat used to work at the airport with them, Wagstaffe said. He left after suffering an injury.

“Don’t move,” Prasad told the woman, according to Wagstaffe. The woman said goodbye.

That night, Prasad decided to follow Mangaccat to his house in Daly City, Wagstaffe said. Prasad asked Rivera, his friend, to drive him, and the two men followed Mangaccat for nearly 8 miles, watching him pick the woman up from work and take her to their house, Wagstaffe said.

Around 10 p.m., as Mangaccat backed into their garage, Prasad jumped out of the car, ran up to Mangaccat’s car and fired five or six shots at him, Wagstaffe said. He jumped back into the car Rivera was driving and the two took off, Wagstaffe said.

Mangaccat died in the driver’s seat of his car. The woman was uninjured.

Prasad and Rivera were arrested within 24 hours, on April 26, soon after the woman raised the possibility that Prasad was involved in the killing. Wagstaffe said the case – and the two men – will be thoroughly investigated.

“I want to know everything from the day they started kindergarten,” he said.

© 2018 The Washington Post