Alameda County District Attorney Announces Charges in I-880 Freeway Fatality of 5-Year-Old Eliyanah
Three defendants charged with murder
OAKLAND, CA —Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Y. Price announces three murder charges were filed today against three defendants responsible for the death of five-year-old Eliyanah Crisostomo.
Eliyanah and her family were on their way to a family dinner, driving along Interstate 880 between Fremont and Milpitas April 8 around 6:40 p.m. when she was struck by gunfire, and killed. Eliyanah was riding in the third-row seat, next to her brother, when the bullet pierced through her heart.
“My heart goes out to Eliyanah’s family. There is no reason young children should die on our Bay Area freeways,” said DA Price. “This behavior is absolutely unacceptable. We will not stand for gun violence and these three defendants will be held accountable for their despicable actions.”
Defendants Humberto Anaya, Kristo Ayala Valderrama and Emmanuel Sarango were each charged with one count of Penal Code 187, murder, for her death. They were additionally charged with seven counts each of Penal Code 246, shooting at an occupied vehicle. The suspects were driving a red Honda Accord that was later located in Santa Cruz, where the defendants were caught and arrested.
The defendants, three Fremont Sureño gang members, fired into the car Eliyanah was riding in with her family, believing it was a rival gang car. They flashed gang symbols and purposefully fired within their intended target, the car filled with Eliyanah and five other people.
All three defendants were also involved in an assault earlier that day in Fremont and were charged with three counts each: PC 245 (b) felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Both Ayala and Anaya were additionally charged with PC 25400(a)(1) felony carrying a concealed firearm within a vehicle, and PC 25850(a) felony carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person in a city.
About 15 minutes before the murder, Fremont Police responded to a call on the 37000 block of Fremont Boulevard for a report of a shooting. The victim was walking on Fremont Boulevard when the suspect vehicle, a red Honda Accord, drove by. One of the occupants commented about the red clothing the victim was wearing. Two suspects exited the car, and one shot at the victim as he ran away; the victim was not injured.
“We want to thank the California Highway Patrol, Fremont Police and Santa Cruz Police for their great work in investigating this case, and finding and apprehending these three suspects,” said DA Price.
The three defendants are expected to be arraigned on the amended complaint on Friday April 14, at the East County Hall of Justice.
The Office will not be making any further comments in order not to compromise the case.
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Contact: Public Information Officer Angela Ruggiero angela.ruggiero@acgov.org // (510) 919-0081
A statement from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Y. Price.
A statement from DA Pamela Y. Price on the Jasper Wu case
DA Price statement regarding Judge refusal to accept probation-approved plea in Logwood Case
We are pleased that the Alameda County Probation Department was satisfied with the punishment that we agreed to for Mr. Delonzo Logwood after considering all of the background information about Mr. Logwood. When we reviewed the case, we felt that the trauma inflicted on the survivors, the defendant and his family, the court system and my staff by my predecessor’s failure to promptly resolve the case was unacceptable. We are very disappointed that Judge McCannon did not accept the plea bargain previously agreed upon by my office and defense counsel, and accepted by the Probation Department. Now, the case will head to trial, and justice will continue to be delayed as it makes its way through the court system.
As I stated previously, even though these crimes occurred almost 15 years ago, our mission in the here and now is to stop the violence in our community. The level of violent assaults that took the lives of young Black men in the summer of 2008 and continuing until today is not acceptable. We appreciate Mr. Logwood’s commitment to the efforts to stop the violence and everyone’s cooperation in the quest to protect public safety. The important work to intervene and make peace will continue to the benefit our entire community. We will continue to support those efforts and do our part to stop the violence.