Go Matsuura was 19 and a film student at Marymount College in Palos Verdes when he was killed on March 25, 1994. He and a friend, Takuma Ito, were victims of a carjacking in the parking lot of a Ralph’s grocery store in San Pedro, Los Angeles, and both were shot in the back of the head. The attacker was identified as Raymond Oscar Butler, then 18, who was apprehended and charged in the killings.

Butler was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to death for the double homicide. The case drew heavy international attention, especially in Japan where both students had ties, and prompted a public apology from the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. More recently, the Los Angeles County District Attorney sought resentencing, arguing Butler had significant childhood trauma and cognitive impairments and recommending life without parole instead of execution.