Homicide Bureau Detectives and Mother Ask Public to Help Find Suspects Responsible for Shooting Death of 4-Year-Old
Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau investigators made a public plea for assistance in locating suspects responsible for the shooting death of a little boy last month.
Salvador Esparza III, 4, of Monrovia was looking forward to starting kindergarten this fall, but the chance to realize one of his first big milestones was snapped away when he was shot and killed late Tuesday evening, July 5, in Altadena, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County.
Esparza was with his parents that night, visiting a friend’s home in the 300 block of West Figueroa Drive. As he stood in the front doorway, an unknown suspect fired numerous rounds in the direction of the dwelling, fatally striking little Esparza in the head and injuring a 27-year-old Black male. The suspect was on foot and fled the scene southbound on Olive Avenue; he got into a black vehicle, which continued the flight southbound on Olive Avenue.
Both victims were transported to a local hospital, where Esparza was pronounced dead and the second victim was treated for his injury.
Although investigation led detectives to suspect the shooting was gang-related, it is not believed Esparza was the intended target.
The shooting suspect is described only as a Black male.
This morning, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, Esparza’s family gathered for a press conference on the sidewalk in front of the house where the shooting occurred. Esparza’s mother, Coral Salvador, made an emotionally-intense appeal for anyone with information to contact authorities. She spoke of the son she achingly misses, “He was my world. He was my everything.”
In hopes of encouraging witnesses to come forward, Detective Lieutenant John Corina presented a reward amount of $20,000 dollars, 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 Esparza III.
If you have any information about the shooting, the suspect or the escape vehicle, please call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you wish to remain anonymous, please call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-8477, or use your smartphone by downloading the “P3 MOBILE APP” on Google play or the App Store, or use the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
