Youth pastor's family reacts to plea deal in deadly shooting
"They won't make us forget who Eli is, the person he was," his sister told The Scanner in an exclusive interview Thursday night.
Two men charged with killing a youth pastor in Berkeley in 2022 were sentenced to prison Thursday after seeing the murder case dropped to manslaughter in the lead-up to trial.
In an exclusive interview Thursday night, Tapu Mata'afa shared some of what her family has been through since her younger brother was killed on Telegraph Avenue near UC Berkeley during a conflict with strangers.
"Nothing has been the same," she said.
That night, Oct. 8, 2022, police say two men shot Isamaeli "Eli" Mata'afa and three of his cousins after picking a fight with them for no reason.
Mata'afa and his cousins had left Kip’s Bar and Grill in good spirits after a night out. The other men had been kicked out of Tap Haus for fighting with each other.
Surveillance cameras captured some of the deadly conflict but not the actual shooting.
Mata'afa, ever the peacemaker, tried to step in to ease the tension. His cousins survived the violence but he did not. He was 29 years old.
Emilie Raguso
The entire family — Eli was one of seven siblings — has struggled in the ensuing years.
But his death has been particularly hard on their parents, Tapu said Thursday.
Their father stopped working three months after the funeral and now has trouble leaving the house — even for church, previously a mainstay, or to visit the grandchildren. Even to attend his grandson's school events just up the street.
He did not attend Thursday's court hearing.
Therapy hasn't helped. Time hasn't either.
"He won't go anywhere," Tapu said. "I just feel like he's stuck."
Their mother still visits the cemetery every week — crying there so her children and grandchildren don't see her pain.
Among his many siblings, Eli was known to be his mother's favorite, Tapu said.
Even as a student, he would spend the little money he had on her.
"Almost every restaurant here in Union City, my mom had been to because of Eli," Tapu said. "Their bond is just beyond."
The whole family looked up to Eli — as a relationship counselor, a mentor, a spiritual advisor. A mender of family conflicts.
"He's the one who keeps the family together," she said. "My brother was the one who connects us all."
Emilie Raguso
Thursday's plea deal — which resulted in a 14-year sentence for manslaughter for Andy Gutierrez-Rebollo and an eight-year sentence for assault with a firearm for Michael Monrroy-Ramos — prompted varied reactions in the Mata'afa family.
Both men were originally charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Tapu said her parents, still grieving, don't think much about the case at all.
The siblings all want justice for Eli — but differ on what that means.
"Some of my siblings are angry," Tapu said. For them, the deal felt like a slap in the face.
Tapu has taken a different position.
"I have nothing against them," she said, of the defendants. "Hopefully they learn and make better choices."
"Mistakes happened. A life was taken," Tapu said. "They're young."
Gutierrez-Rebollo was 24 at the time of the shooting. Monrroy-Ramos was 23.
"They won't make us forget who Eli is, the person he was," she continued. "All I can do is pray for them. It's just up to God to make judgments for them."
"There's nothing that can bring him back," she added, pausing. "He would have thought that way."
Emilie Raguso
On Thursday morning, through his attorney, Gutierrez-Rebollo said he planned to "write something" for the Mata'afa family and hoped the prosecutor would give it to them "if she feels it's appropriate and would be helpful."
Monrroy-Ramos, through his attorney, declined to make a statement during the brief sentencing hearing.
Under state law, both defendants are classified as youth offenders, which likely contributed to sentencing decisions and could play a role in their eventual release.
Before accepting the plea deal, Judge Roz Silvaggio noted that Gutierrez-Rebollo had shared "significant feelings" with authorities, including "his deep regret and sadness" about his role "in the events that led to this terrible tragedy," along with a "desire to dedicate his life to making it right."
Tapu Mata'afa read a brief statement to the court on behalf of her family.
After thanking her for sharing their experience, the judge made her own brief remarks.
"I wonder and grapple with, all the time, what this process can offer you. I don't know what that is. I don't know what that looks like," Silvaggio said. "But I do know that, having heard your statement, there is tremendous love. And that love never dies."
Before the hearing ended, the attorneys agreed to come back to court in June to determine restitution.
A third defendant in the case — Michael's sister, Jessyca Monrroy — continues to face a felony gun possession charge. She is set to appear in court in March.
Monrroy was initially charged with helping the men cover their tracks after the shooting. That charge was later dropped.
Emilie Raguso
Meanwhile, in Berkeley, a garden planted in Eli Mata'afa's memory continues to grow.
In addition to his work as a youth pastor with the Samoan Congregational Christian Church in San Lorenzo, Mata'afa was a star student at Pacific School of Religion, just up the hill from UC Berkeley on Scenic Avenue.
The school opened the Isamaeli Mata’afa Community Garden in 2023.
The site is open to the public and has weekly community garden hours (Tuesdays from 1-4 p.m. and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to noon), according to the school website.
Tapu Mata'afa said she visits regularly throughout the year to watch the garden change and remember her brother.
To mark events like Eli's birthday and the anniversary of his death, the family continues to gather at home, at his gravesite and in church.
The anniversary often falls on White Sunday, Tapu said, a Samoan national holiday honoring children.
"We celebrate our kids. We always celebrate him," she said, of her brother. "We still remember him, how he impacted our lives and who he was as a person, within all of us."
