The only conviction of the alleged killer of Kate Steinle was set aside in a California court

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The only conviction of a man accused of Kate Steinle's murder in 2015 was overturned Friday by the 1st District Court of San Francisco.

Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate was accused of shooting Steinle while she was walking with her father and friend on the San Francisco waterfront. Garcia-Zarate, a Mexican national, was illegally in the United States at the time of the shooting. He had already been deported five times and it was unclear when he would return home. Steinle was 32 at the time of his death.

Garcia-Zarate claimed that the shooting was accidental and that he did not want to unload the firearm that he would have found wrapped in a t-shirt. The gun had been stolen a week earlier in the car parked by a ranger from the Bureau of Land Management.

Garcia-Zarate was acquitted of all but one of the charges in November 2017, more than two years after Steinle's death. The jury at the time declared it "not guilty" of semi-automatic aggression, first- and second-degree murder and manslaughter. He was only found guilty of being a criminal in possession of a firearm.

This conviction was overturned on Friday when the California court found that one judge had failed to instruct the jury on one of Garcia-Zarate's defenses. He will remain in custody awaiting trial on a charge of firearms possession by the federal government.

Steinle's family took legal action for wrongful death against San Francisco earlier this year, alleging that the city was a sanctuary for immigrants, unduly putting their daughter in danger. The complaint was rejected by the lower court and this decision was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuit also named sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, of San Francisco County, responsible for Steinle's death.

Garcia-Zarate had been detained in the sheriff's office only three months before the shooting. The office ignored the federal authorities' request to keep Garcia-Zarate in custody until he was able to detain him, an issue that has become a strong point in the case.

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