Crime & Safety

Victims in Grisly Double Homicide May Have Been Mistaken for Rival Gang Members

The Bay Area News Group reports that the two murder suspects, who are blaming each other for the crimes, may have committed the violent act after mistaking one of the victims as a rival gang member.

Court documents have revealed some startling details about the grisly double homicide that shook the Decoto community last month, according to the Bay Area News Group.

BANG reports that suspects Robert “Dylan” Redding, 19, of Union City, and Eric Estrada, 22, who has addresses in Union City and Hayward — both reputed gang members — were charged in court with two counts of murder and two counts of felony gang enhancements in the killings of 21-year-old Daniel Garcia-Sanchez and 18-year-old Carlos Estrada-Partida.

Garcia-Sanchez and Estrada-Partida were gunned down on the 33400 block of 11th Street at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 25, not far from Estrada-Partida’s home, where both lived. Responding officers found both lying in the street and suffering from gunshot wounds. Garcia-Sanchez was pronounced dead at the scene; Estrada-Partida died at the hospital.

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According to BANG, court records show that one of the young men was shot twice in the face at close range. The second victim was shot in the back as he ran away.

The victims may have been mistaken for rival gang members.

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BANG reports that Redding pinned the crime on Estrada, telling police that he was smoking weed at a park with Estrada and three juvenile gang members when they saw Garcia-Sanchez and Estrada-Partida. Estrada invited the victims to grab beer with them. That’s when Estrada confronted one of the victims and asked if he was affiliated with a rival gang. Estrada then opened fire on the victims using a .357 revolver Redding had given to him.

Estrada, however, alleged that Redding was the gunman during his interview with police.

Read the BANG report here.

Both Redding and Estrada were arrested Aug. 29 during SWAT sweeps in Hayward and Union City. Multiple persons of interest, including juveniles, were questioned and released.

Additional suspects may be arrested as the investigation continues, police said.

The double homicide came as a shock to many in the community.

Both Garcia-Sanchez and Estrada-Partida were not believed to be affiliated with any gangs. The two worked in the kitchen at Shabuway and Men Oh, joint Japanese restaurants where a fundraiser was held over the weekend. Family, friends and co-workers remembered the two friends as happy, outgoing and fun-loving. 

“They were great guys all around,” friend Adi Riate told Patch in a previous story. “It’s a sad loss.”

The fatal shootings have sparked community leaders to plea for peace, with a peace march scheduled for Thursday night in the Decoto neighborhood.


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