SANTA CLARA — A man shot and killed a 3-year-old boy after badgering his mother — currently pregnant with the man’s child — over imagined infidelity in a harrowing confrontation at a Santa Clara home earlier this week, authorities say.
Sergio Colin Gomez, 24, was charged Thursday with murder and assault in the shooting death of Ivan Martinez-Alvarado early Tuesday at the apartment Gomez shared with Ivan’s mother, according to a criminal complaint.
Gomez, who was arrested the morning the shooting occurred, was being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose. His arraignment was held Thursday afternoon, and he was ordered to return to court April 22.
“We are sickened and heartbroken at the senseless murder of Ivan,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Nothing we achieve in court, no jury or judge, can make up for the lost life of this innocent child. We will sadly but steadfastly do our job to make sure this person will never harm another.”
A probable cause affidavit accompanying the complaint alleges that Gomez came home late the night before the shooting, while Ivan and his mother were watching TV in a living room, and told them to leave the room. The mother and son went to Ivan’s room to watch TV until Ivan fell asleep, after which the mother and Gomez talked in the kitchen.
The conversation was emotionally charged, the affidavit reads, and Gomez accused his girlfriend — 5 months pregnant with his child — of cheating on him. The talk cooled down and they went to watch a movie in their bedroom, but at some point Gomez asked her, as he would repeatedly for the next hour or so, “Yes or no?” in what appeared to be interrogations about her faithfulness to their relationship.
According to her remarks to detectives, the woman feared for her safety and locked herself and her son in the child’s room, but Gomez broke through the door. The agitated Gomez then left the apartment through the front door; he apparently paced outside, then came back to the room with mother and son, holding a handgun at his side.
Gomez allegedly continued yelling “Yes or no!” and pointed the gun at Ivan from less than a foot away, and within moments the weapon fired, hitting Ivan in the head, killing him.
Gomez dropped the gun and fled the apartment, while the mother called 911. The mother told police that she tried to reach for the gun but the shot was fired before she could make any contact.
Responding officers soon spotted Gomez walking nearby, and arrested him after encountering some physical resistance, police said. Officers later recovered the handgun dropped in the child’s bedroom.
Gomez’s criminal history in the county consists largely of traffic violations, save for a 2019 misdemeanor of disturbing the peace. Court records show that in December 2018, an 18-year-old Gomez was arrested after refusing to leave his ex-girlfriend’s home in Sunnyvale, and threatened to burn it down.
Gomez allegedly struggled with responding police officers trying to detain him, though a related charge was dismissed. He pleaded no contest to a disturbance charge and was issued court-ordered anger management training and 40 hours of community service.
Anyone with information for the police investigation can contact Detective Frank Hagg at 408-615-4814 or by email at fhagg@santaclaraca.gov. Anonymous tips can be left at 408-615-4847.
