A San Francisco jury has convicted Mission District resident Lisa Gonzales of murdering and dismembering her roommate, Margaret Mamer, in a case that is as horrifying as it is enraging.

Let that sink in for a moment. A woman was killed in her own home — the one place anyone should feel safe — and then dismembered by the person living under the same roof. According to statements attributed to Gonzales herself, she reportedly said of Mamer: "She left — but not the way she wanted to." That's not remorse. That's not even indifference. That's something far darker.

The conviction is the right outcome, and the jury deserves credit for delivering it. But cases like this force us to ask harder questions about the city we live in.

San Francisco has spent years — and hundreds of millions of dollars — on programs that claim to address public safety through "alternative approaches" and "community investment." And look, nobody is against helping people. But when a brutal murder and dismemberment happens in the Mission, it's worth asking: are we actually keeping people safe, or are we just funding bureaucracies that make us feel like we're keeping people safe?

The basics of a functioning city aren't complicated. People need to feel secure in their homes. The justice system needs to work — from policing through prosecution through conviction. In this case, it appears the system did its job. A jury heard the evidence and held a killer accountable.

That should be the norm, not the exception.

Margaret Mamer deserved to live. She deserved a city that prioritized her safety. The least San Francisco can do now is ensure that this conviction sticks and that Gonzales faces the full weight of the consequences.

No reduced sentences. No early release. No excuses. Just justice.