Fremont freeway shooting: Trio appears in death of 5-year-old girl
The men appeared at the East County Hall of Justice to face a slew of felony charges, including murder, assault with a firearm and various other gun-related offenses.
A trio of men pleaded not guilty on Thursday in the shooting death a 5-year-old Santa Clara girl, who was killed earlier this month on Interstate 880 in Fremont when authorities say the men mistook a car the girl was riding in for that of a rival gang member.
Wearing red jail jumpsuits, Humberto Anaya, 29, Emmanuel Sarango, 27, and Kristo Ayala, 25, appeared at Dublin’s East County Hall of Justice to face murder charges in the killing of Eliyanah Crisostomo, 5. She was traveling with her family to a birthday party when she was hit in the heart by a bullet, leaving her mortally wounded.
The men showed little emotion and spoke very little as their attorneys denied the slew of charges against them, which include murder and various other offenses, some related to a non-injury shooting that happened a short time before the killiing. Sarango was ordered to be held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail, while bail remained at $140,000 for Anaya and Ayala.
The hearing came days after Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price defended her handling of the case, which has highlighted a series of changes implemented by the longtime civil rights attorney since she took office in January. Her reforms include reducing the use of sentencing enhancements that imprison those convicted for most or all of their lives, all as a means to “bring balance back to sentencing and reduce recidivism.”
In the freeway shooting case, a gang sentencing enhancement to the murder charge was included for all three suspects when they were booked into the Santa Rita Jail — a process that essentially acts as law enforcement’s initial recommendation for any charges to be later filed by prosecutors. However, that enhancement — which can make defendants eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole — was not included when Price’s office filed murder charges against the men Friday.
Price said her office filed the “appropriate” charges in the case, though she signaled that her office may still change its approach to the case, adding “we’re not ruling out anything at this point.”
Capt. Eric Tang, who leads the Fremont Police Department’s special operations division, said earlier this week that he was “confident” his department would recommend that the district attorney’s office pursue gang enhancements, once detectives finish their investigation.
The killing marked the second shooting death of a child on Interstate 880 within a year and a half. In November 2021, Jasper Wu was killed a few weeks shy of his second birthday when he was hit by a bullet fired during a rolling gun battle between rival gang members in Oakland. Alameda County’s previous district attorney, Nancy O’Malley, charged the suspects in that case with sentencing enhancements related to gang activity — a decision that is now under review by Price, with the case still pending.
The latest killing came as Eliyanah Crisostomo’s family was on their way to a birthday celebration at about 6:40 p.m. on April 8, according to Ezery Beauchamp, chief of the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division. Realizing that the girl was shot, the family pulled over when they saw a California Highway Patrol officer parked along the side of a road. She died, despite the officer doing all he could to keep her alive.
Fremont police suspect the three defendants in the Crisostomo killing also were involved in a second shooting about 15 minutes earlier on Fremont city streets, where authorities said they accosted a pedestrian and made reference to gang colors before one of them opened fire. No one was injured in that encounter.
The trio were later arrested in Santa Cruz after a police chase. Fremont police Chief Sean Washington said the use of two “community” videos captured after the first shooting were instrumental in helping to identify the suspects in the case.