CA - Izack Jimenez Garcia, 3 mos, shot to death, East Palo Alto, 5 June 2011

This story is absolutely heartbreaking. The Lopez family was leaving a baby shower on early Sunday morning, 6-5 at around 1 a.m. with their 3 month old and 3 year old sons. Some gang members "thought" someone in the car had beaten them up a week ago, so they retaliated by shooting into the car. The baby was shot in the head and died a few hours later at Stanford Hospital.

The violence has to stop. What kind of idiots shoot people just because they "think" they took part in a gang beating, and what is fueling these jerks? How can they look in a car with a family and kids and shoot them?

http://www.foxreno.com/news/28145635/detail.html

That is so tragic. I know East Palo Alto well as four of my adopted sons are from there. All were born at Stanford which is just across the highway. Even 20 years ago, we were strictly warned to return the children to their foster homes before 3 pm while we were doing our initial visits with them. Community activists have tried but East Palo Alto can be a frightening place for anybody. I remember that our seven year old had never learned to ride a bike as his foster mother was afraid to allow him out on the sidewalks--with good reason. None of the children had ever gone to the city parks either. That is not the way it's supposed to be.

There's a huge cultural divide. On one side of 101 is East Palo Alto, which has earned the "murder capital of the world" distinction, I believe. On the other side is Palo Alto, home of Stanford and multi-million dollar lovely and historic houses and a charming downtown. The parks there are safe, for the most part. All literally blocks apart. No child should live in danger. I agree, we must work harder for children's safety. From the link above:

"....At the police press conference, the baby’s mother-- Ivonne Garcia Lopez, who was wounded in the incident-- broke down in tears as she described shooting. “He was a beautiful three-month old baby boy,” she said through tears. “He was such a precious thing. He was my everything. I was really happy to have him in my life. We were happy and then this person came into our lives to destroy – they destroyed my family. They killed my baby. They killed a part of my soul.” Lopez said she had shielded her children – three-month-old Izak Jesus Jimenez Garcia and his 4-year-old brother – from the gunman with her body as the three sat in the back seat...."

Fly high, sweet little Izak Jesus.

That mother's statement is one of the most poignant things I've ever seen and heard. If only she could get her message through to gang members.

Missizzy said:

That is so tragic. I know East Palo Alto well as four of my adopted sons are from there. All were born at Stanford which is just across the highway. Even 20 years ago, we were strictly warned to return the children to their foster homes before 3 pm while we were doing our initial visits with them. Community activists have tried but East Palo Alto can be a frightening place for anybody. I remember that our seven year old had never learned to ride a bike as his foster mother was afraid to allow him out on the sidewalks--with good reason. None of the children had ever gone to the city parks either. That is not the way it's supposed to be.

There's a huge cultural divide. On one side of 101 is East Palo Alto, which has earned the "murder capital of the world" distinction, I believe. On the other side is Palo Alto, home of Stanford and multi-million dollar lovely and historic houses and a charming downtown. The parks there are safe, for the most part. All literally blocks apart. No child should live in danger. I agree, we must work harder for children's safety. From the link above:

"....At the police press conference, the baby’s mother-- Ivonne Garcia Lopez, who was wounded in the incident-- broke down in tears as she described shooting. “He was a beautiful three-month old baby boy,” she said through tears. “He was such a precious thing. He was my everything. I was really happy to have him in my life. We were happy and then this person came into our lives to destroy – they destroyed my family. They killed my baby. They killed a part of my soul.” Lopez said she had shielded her children – three-month-old Izak Jesus Jimenez Garcia and his 4-year-old brother – from the gunman with her body as the three sat in the back seat...."

Fly high, sweet little Izak Jesus.

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MissIzzy, I'm also very familiar with this area. East Palo Alto has been a really bad area as long as I can remember--back to the early 1950's.

A window into the pain suffered by a family who've just lost their precious baby to needless violence. Any death of a child...by accident or illness....is unfathomably painful. But to know that you lost your tiny one due to a stupid teen fight??? How I wish this young couple could somehow reach young people who are tempted to join gangs. Would anyone listen?

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18223400?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Mom of 3-month-old boy slain in East Palo Alto speaks of family's grief



And murder or manslaughter charges have not been brought yet--I wonder why?

"....The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it would need another day to decide whether to charge a 17-year-old boy arrested in connection with the shooting. A second teenager was arrested on a weapons charge during the investigation. The teens were taken into custody Sunday afternoon on the 400 block of Larkspur Drive, where police also recovered three small-caliber handguns.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office met with police investigators Tuesday morning, reviewed the case and decided to hold off on making a decision until today. "I'm not saying the evidence is insufficient," Wagstaffe said. "I'm simply saying we want more time to acquire more facts and have further investigation done....."

more at link (plus a photo of precious little Izack)

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_18231264?source=rss

Teen charged as an adult in fatal shooting of infant in East Palo Alto

"San Mateo County prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 17-year-old as an adult in connection with a triple shooting that took the life of a 3-month-old boy in East Palo Alto last weekend. Fabian Zaragoza of East Palo Alto was briefly arraigned in a Redwood City courtroom but did not enter a plea. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Hall assigned him to the county's private defender program, ordered him to remain in the county's youth services facility in Belmont without bail and scheduled him to return next Wednesday to enter a plea.

The parents of the slain infant, Izack Jesus Jimenez Garcia, and other family members sat in the front row of the courtroom. Ivonne Garcia Lopez, the baby's mother who also was injured in the shooting, sat in a wheelchair and cried loudly before the hearing began...."

and

"...Garcia Lopez was shot in the leg as she tried to shield Izack Jesus and her 4-year-old son. The boys' father, Oscar Jimenez, was shot in the arm as he drove away, according to police...."

more at link

October 2014:

Grand jury indicts pair in fatal baby shooting

Eric Valencia Vargas, 20, of East Palo Alto, was already in custody on an unrelated shooting when prosecutors went to a criminal grand jury to indict him on charges related to the shooting of 3-month-old Isack Jiminez Garcia and wounding his parents.

The same jury also indicted Fabian Zaragoza, now 20. Zaragoza has already been indicted in the case but bringing them both to them same grand jury lets prosecutors more easily try them together, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

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February 2016:

Man accused of killing infant has case dismissed

Vargas’ defense attorney, Kevin Nowack, argued that Vargas did not in fact make any statements that he was in the area of the shooting and no witnesses identified him as being in the area. Nowack said there was a third suspect identified as being with Zaragoza both at the time shooting and that composite sketches of this third suspect bore a dramatic resemblance to Vargas.

While Wagstaffe acknowledged the presence of the third suspect, he said there was not enough evidence to charge that person in the shooting death of baby Izack.

Judge Jonathan Karesh sided with the defense and dismissed the case, citing his concerns that the cellphone evidence presented by the prosecution covered too wide of an area to reasonably implicate Vargas, Wagstaffe said.

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The case against Fabian Zaragoza was not dismissed. I'm not sure if he has gone to trial yet.

Not-guilty plea in infant's death in East Palo Alto

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2017/10/05/not-guilty-plea-in-infants-death

Fabian Zaragoza, the man accused of killing a 3-month-old boy during a gang-related shooting more than six years ago, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to murder and other charges in San Mateo County Superior Court.

The parents, Ivonne Garcia Lopez and Oscar Jimenez, were injured. Investigators believe Zaragoza and another person fired shots at the family after mistaking them for Sureno gang members who had beaten up Zaragoza in Redwood City on May 31, 2011. Zaragoza was 17 years old at the time, but his case is to be tried in adult court, a judge determined. He remains in custody without bail.

Zaragoza will return to court on Oct. 25 to set new jury trial and pretrial conference dates.

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The perp was released in Apr 2019.

Fabian Zaragoza, 25, was taken out of custody eight years after he was arrested for the fatal shooting of the little boy who became known to the community as "Baby Izack." Zaragoza's release comes after prosecutors decided they could not get a conviction on the basis of malice and because Senate Bill 1437, a state law that went into effect this year, changes the way murder is interpreted in some cases, particularly if the defendant cannot be proven to be the actual shooter.

Man charged with killing infant Izack Garcia in East Palo Alto strikes plea deal.