Woman killed filming attack in Tenderloin — becomes year’s first homicide

Arthur Finch was arrested and charged with murder in the killing of Veronica Soliz in San Francisco's Tenderloin on Wednesday. Arthur Finch was arrested and charged with murder in the killing of Veronica Soliz in San Francisco's Tenderloin on Wednesday. Photo: California Department Of Justice / Photo: California Department Of Justice / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Woman killed filming attack in Tenderloin — becomes year’s first homicide 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Years of battling addiction had worn heavy on Veronica Soliz. The onetime professional ballet dancer had become estranged from her family. At times she would sleep in city parks before she eventually found a place at a single-room occupancy hotel in San Francisco’s Tenderloin.

Wanting to leave her troubled life behind, she packed up her things at the Arlington Residences on Ellis Street and was set to move to Florida to live with her family.

But tragedy struck around 11:40 a.m. Wednesday when Soliz, 61, walked outside her apartment and witnessed an attack that ended in her own murder, authorities and family members said.

Soliz’s death marks the first killing of the year in San Francisco.

“It just seems so bizarre,” Soliz’s ex-husband, Jack Schwindler, said in an emotional interview with The Chronicle on Thursday. “She was packed and ready to go and change her life, and she ran into this.”

Soliz that morning had witnessed a man beating a woman on the sidewalk outside her building at 480 Ellis St. and immediately called 911, Schwindler said.

After calling the cops, Soliz made a bold decision and followed the assailant, recording him on her cell phone as he walked to his car. But the man apparently saw he was being followed and turned on Soliz, fatally stabbing her in the head, Schwindler said. She died soon after being rushed to San Francisco General Hospital.

Police arrested 49-year-old Arthur Finch sometime after the killing. He was booked in San Francisco Jail late Wednesday and was later charged with murder, attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and other charges.

Finch is no stranger to law enforcement. He did six years in state prison for a rape in Oakland in 2008 and is a registered sex offender in California.

In the years since his 2013 release from prison, he’s violated his parole on numerous occasions and has been out of compliance with the state’s sex offender registry, records show. Most recently, he was listed as a transient in Oakland and had not checked in with law enforcement.

Soliz grew up in Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) and won a scholarship at the National Academy of Dance in Illinois, where she embarked on her life’s passion. She went on to become the principal dancer with the Cleveland and San Jose ballet companies and moved to San Francisco.

Schwindler met Soliz at a martial arts class in San Francisco in 1981. He was working as a criminal defense attorney and she was a vibrant dancer, he said.

“She was a wonderful person,” Schwindler recalled. “She had a great personality. She was magnetic. She was funny. She was very talented.”

The couple married in 1983 and soon started a family. But after their second child was born three years after their marriage, Soliz became depressed, started drinking and began spiraling out of control.

“Initially she was a good mom, but all I can say is I think there were demons chasing her, and I think they won,” Schwindler said. “I just stood in dismay in what happened to her.”

Schwindler time and again tried to make things work, but the two ultimately divorced in 2001.

Soliz later found a home at the Arlington Residences, a supportive housing complex for the formerly homeless, with counseling on site. She was set to move with her sister in Florida, and everything in her apartment was packed up and ready to go, Schwindler said.

He learned of the attack after getting a call from the San Francisco Department of Public Health on Wednesday afternoon, telling him his former wife was in the hospital and was going to die.

“For me, today is the first time in years I’ve said I loved her,” Schwindler said. “My children are suffering enormously from this. It’s not her fault her life turned out like this.”

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky