3-year-old allegedly killed by mom's boyfriend in Santa Clara identified
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - A 3-year-old boy allegedly killed by his mother's boyfriend in Santa Clara was identified Thursday as Ivan Martinez-Alvarado by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Ivan was shot in the head at close range Tuesday by his mother's live-in boyfriend, 24-year-old Sergio Colin Gomez, of Santa Clara, officials said. The shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. at Riley Square Apartments, just off Lawrence Expressway north of El Camino Real.
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Prosecutors said that Ivan and his pregnant mother were watching TV at their apartment when Gomez came home. After the little boy fell asleep, the suspect began to accuse the mother of infidelity. According to the police department's statement of facts, the defendant was trying to force the woman to confess to cheating, telling her, "Yes or No."
The woman went to her son's room and locked the door, but the suspect broke in, left, and came back holding a gun.
Prosecutors said Gomez aimed the handgun within a foot of the child’s head. As the boy's mother reached for the weapon, the suspect fired the fatal shot then fled the apartment.
The woman, who was not injured, called police to report that her boyfriend had shot her son. When officers responded, they found the child in his bed and deceased. A handgun was located on the floor of the room.
Gomez, who is not Ivan's father, was arrested in the area after a brief struggle with police. He was arrainged Thursday afternoon on charges of murder and assault upon a child under age eight causing death. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
"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."