The two men who ambushed and killed San Mateo rapper Ueta Savelio Muasika Jr. in his own driveway in 2020 will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

John "Talia" Paasi and Isileli Mahe were sentenced Thursday, July 23, to life without the possibility of parole for the Oct. 30, 2020, murder of Muasika Jr. on the 1600 block of Eleanor Drive in the 19th Avenue Park neighborhood, the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office confirmed. Mahe received life without parole plus six additional years. Paasi received life without parole plus 12 additional years.

A jury had found both men guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait, meaning they planned and concealed the ambush before attacking. They were also convicted of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for shooting Muasika Jr.'s 2-year-old son, who was hit once in the face and survived.

The shooting

Prosecutors said Muasika Jr., a local rap artist known as "Juice Boi" from the music group Cutthroat Mode, was loading his toddler son into a car at approximately 9:30 a.m. that October morning when a vehicle carrying Paasi and Mahe pulled up and stopped in front of the driveway. One of the men got out of the passenger seat and opened fire, hitting Muasika Jr. 14 times, according to prosecutors.

In a family photo, courtesy to Leslie Munoz, Muasika Jr. is seen holding his young son.

The boy survived and, according to his mother Leslie Munoz, has partial vision injuries that largely do not impact his life.

The motive

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the murder was motivated by the 2019 arson killing of Paasi's 85-year-old grandmother, Susana Tonga, by Muasika Jr.'s cousin Fifita Tau. Tau was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for that fire. Wagstaffe said there is no evidence Muasika Jr. had any involvement in the arson.

Six years to justice

An 18-month investigation led police to arrest Paasi in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Mahe in Honolulu. Both were captured in 2022 and extradited to San Mateo County.

"From the time it occurred, it took six years to get to this stage of justice," Wagstaffe said. "The police had to run down these guys in North Carolina, [in] Hawaii, where they were hiding out after they committing the murder, and then it just took forever to get it through the system."

Appeal planned

Defense attorney Brandon Douglass, who represents Mahe, said he intends to appeal the conviction. Douglass said Mahe "is going to keep fighting" and that he believes his client deserves "another day in court." Paasi's defense attorney, Eric Hove, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Anyone with information about violent crime in San Mateo can contact the San Mateo Police Department at (650) 522-7700 or the anonymous tip line at (650) 522-7676.