Post by Scumhunter on Jul 22, 2019 4:02:32 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: projectcoldcase.org)
From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune website:
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to renew a $20,000 reward for information about the shooting death of 4-year-old Salvador Esparza III, who was shot in the head on the front porch of an Altadena home during a 2016 gang-related shooting, authorities said.
The reward was the Esparza family’s attempt to breath new life into a cold case where witnesses have been hard to come by, a shooter is yet to be identified, and no arrests have been made. Investigators and Esparza’s family fear that the case’s gang associations have scared people into silence.
Twice a week, if not once a week, Esparza’s grandmother, Juana Esparza, of Azusa said she still calls the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective assigned to the case for any new information on the investigation.
“I’m sure everybody is tired of me,” Esparza said. “That was my grandbaby, but he was more like a son. I don’t want them to set it aside, you know?””
Each time she calls, Esparza said investigators give the same response: there’s nothing new.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to renew a $20,000 reward for information about the shooting death of 4-year-old Salvador Esparza III, who was shot in the head on the front porch of an Altadena home during a 2016 gang-related shooting, authorities said.
The reward was the Esparza family’s attempt to breath new life into a cold case where witnesses have been hard to come by, a shooter is yet to be identified, and no arrests have been made. Investigators and Esparza’s family fear that the case’s gang associations have scared people into silence.
Twice a week, if not once a week, Esparza’s grandmother, Juana Esparza, of Azusa said she still calls the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective assigned to the case for any new information on the investigation.
“I’m sure everybody is tired of me,” Esparza said. “That was my grandbaby, but he was more like a son. I don’t want them to set it aside, you know?””
Each time she calls, Esparza said investigators give the same response: there’s nothing new.
The case has gone cold, largely because witnesses to the shooting, or people who may know the shooter, have not shared with investigators what they know, said Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Domenick Recchia, who is investigating the case.
“We believe there are witnesses out there, but no one no wants to come forward,” Recchia said.
Esparza remembers the night of the shooting as a hot night. It was the day after the Fourth of July. People were outside on their porches to cool off. Esparza, who used to work in a dental office, once overheard patients talking about the shooting — that they were there on the night of, that they saw it and were scared. When Esparza introduced herself as the boy’s grandmother, they went silent, she said, or at least changed their story. We know nothing, they would say.
“The town is so small,” Esparza said of Altadena and Pasadena. “Everyone knows each other. Somebody has to be friends with someone who knows how it started that night and who did it.”
Esparza and Recchia believe that the possible gang-association to the shooting has played a factor in people’s collective silence.
“People will remain silent ’cause they’re afraid. Some people don’t wanna get involved. They are afraid,” Recchia said, adding that among gang members, even if from opposing gangs, they do not want to speak for fear of being labeled a “snitch.” And for residents who are not gang-affiliated, Recchia said people are often worried about retaliation from the gangs.
Salvador Esparza spent most of his days with Juana Esparza and her son, the boy’s father, where they lived together at their Azusa home. But the boy would also spend time with his mother who lived in Monrovia. Tuesdays, such as the Tuesday when Salvador was shot, was his mother’s day with him. On that Tuesday, his mother went to visit her boyfriend at his Altadena home, bringing Salvador Esparza with her.
Investigators believe the incident began with a confrontation minutes before the shooting. Coral Salvador, the boy’s mother, and her boyfriend were walking from the Altadena house to a liquor store when a man confronted the pair. Not much is known what took place in the argument, but investigators think it is likely what led to the shooting.
Coral Salvador, mother whose son Salvador was murdered holding a photo of her son at Sheriff’s Press Conference in Altadena, Augut 25, 2016. A reward in the amount of $20,000 dollars is being offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in exchange for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible for the murder of Salvador announced at a Sheriff’s press conference at scene of shooting at 384 West Figueroa Drive in Altadena. The young victim, who was from Monrovia, was visiting with family friends at the time of the shooting. He was looking forward to starting kindergarten in August. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Southern California News Group)
Ten to 15 minutes later back at their house on the 300 block of Figueroa Drive, Coral Salvador had just tucked her son into bed, Recchia said. But unknown to the family, Salvador Esparza never went to sleep. He got himself out of bed and had wandered toward the front of the house. Out front, the mother’s boyfriend and his friend were sharing drinks by the porch. At around 10:30 p.m., a man walked toward the house, stood on the street, and without uttering a word, fired 13 shots at the two. One bullet hit the friend in the leg. A second bullet, a stray, made its way toward Salvador Esparza. He was struck in the head as he stood at the frame of the front door. As Salvador Esparza lay bleeding, his mother told him she loved him, attempting to perform CPR.
The shooter got into a black or dark-colored sedan and drove away south on Olive Avenue.
The house was a known gang hang-out, Recchia said. The man who was shot was a known gang member and is believed to be the intended target. Investigators think the mother’s boyfriend who lived at the house was also a gang member.
Juana Esparza received a call from Coral Salvador who told her the news of the shooting.
“I’m sorry. We were at the porch, we were having a few drinks. It all started at the store, and they just came back and they were shooting,” Coral Salvador told her, according to Esparza. She was sobbing, her voice shaky.
“What happened to the baby?” Esparza said.
“They got him in the head,” Salvador said, according to Esparza. At this point, she, her husband, and their son, the boy’s father, were already in the car heading to the hospital. Esparza remembers her son yelling out to her husband, “Floor it!.”
An hour and 35 minutes later, Salvador Esparza died at a local hospital after an unsuccessful operation.
“This case,” Juana Esparza said. “It’s not fair. It really isn’t fair.”
People with information about the shooting are able to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Recchia said investigators also accept anonymous tips.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.sgvtribune.com/2019/04/24/in-killing-of-4-year-old-boy-during-2016-altadena-shooting-la-county-supervisors-renew-20000-reward-for-leads/amp/
Thoughts? Sadly, as of this posting date (July 22nd, 2019), Salvador's case is still listed as an unsolved homicide on the Project: Cold Case website database: database.projectcoldcase.org/
www.fccrimestoppers.com/sitemenu.aspx?ID=326&
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