3 alleged gang members charged in 5-year-old girl’s killing

MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) — Three alleged gang members are charged in the killing of a 5-year-old girl in the San Francisco Bay Area in a drive-by shooting last week, prosecutors said Friday.

Eliyanah Crisostomo was struck by gunfire Saturday while her family was driving to dinner along Interstate 880 near Milpitas. The bullet struck her heart as she sat next to her brother, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

The suspects, Humberto Anaya, Kristo Ayala Valderrama and Emmanuel Sarango, are alleged members of the Fremont Sureño gang, prosecutors said. Authorities say the trio believed Eliyanah’s family to be driving a rival gang car. The trio flashed gang symbols and opened fire, targeting the child’s family.

“My heart goes out to Eliyanah’s family. There is no reason young children should die on our Bay Area freeways,” District Attorney Pamela Price said in a news release. “This behavior is absolutely unacceptable.”

Anaya, Valderrama and Sarango are each charged with one count of murder and seven counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle. It was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

After the shooting, their red Honda Accord was discovered in Santa Cruz and they were taken into custody.

Prosecutors said they are also suspects in a separate shooting in Fremont, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Milpitas, on Saturday where they allegedly fired at a victim but missed striking him.