Suspect charged in toddler's death
>> A man shot and killed a 3-yearold boy after badgering his mother — currently pregnant with the man's child — over imagined infidelity in a harrowing confrontation at a Santa Clara home, authorities said.
Sergio Colin Gomez, 24, was charged Thursday with murder and assault in the shooting death of Ivan Martinez-Alvarado early Tuesday at the apartment Gomez shared with Ivan's mother, according to a criminal complaint. Gomez, who was arrested the morning the shooting occurred, was being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose. His arraignment was held Thursday afternoon, and he was ordered to return to court April 22.
“We are sickened and heartbroken at the senseless murder of Ivan,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Nothing we achieve in court, no jury or judge, can make up for the lost life of this innocent child. We will sadly but steadfastly do our job to make sure this person will never harm another.”
A probable cause affidavit accompanying the complaint alleged Gomez came home late the night before the shooting while Ivan and his mother were watching TV in the living room and told them to leave the room. The mother and son went to Ivan's room to watch TV until Ivan fell asleep, after which the mother and Gomez talked in the kitchen.
The conversation was emotionally charged, the affidavit said and Gomez accused his girlfriend — five months pregnant with his child — of cheating on him. The talk cooled down and they went to watch a movie in their bedroom. But at some point, Gomez asked her, as he would repeatedly for the next hour or so, “Yes or no?” in what appeared to be interrogations about her faithfulness to their relationship.
According to her remarks to detectives, the woman feared for her safety and locked herself and her son in the child's room, but Gomez broke through the door. The agitated Gomez then left the apartment through the front door; he apparently paced outside, then came back to the room with mother and son, holding a handgun at his side.
Gomez allegedly continued yelling “Yes or no!” and pointed the gun at Ivan from less than a foot away, and within moments the weapon fired, hitting Ivan in the head, killing him.