Suspects in alleged Southern California gang slaying charged with murder
Officers with the Santa Ana Police Department responded to reports of the Aug. 26, 2024, shooting near 810 South Townsend Street just 3:30 p.m. where they found the victim, now identified as 32-year-old Santa Ana resident Erick Alegria, unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound.
Medical personnel with the Orange County Fire Authority also responded to the location, but despite lifesaving measures the 32-year-old succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspects, police said at the time, fled the scene in a silver 2013-2016 Honda Accord EX sedan with a sunroof, 10-spoke wheels and temporary California license plates.
During their investigation, detectives said they identified 28-year-old Santino Javier Fausto and 26-year-old Stefany Vuelvas, both residents of Santa Ana, as suspects in the fatal shooting. 'This investigation revealed that the suspects drove into rival gang territory, where Fausto exited a vehicle and shot a perceived rival gang member before fleeing,' SAPD investigators said in a news release posted to social media.
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On Feb. 12, investigators executed search warrants at multiple locations and took Fausto and Vuelvas into custody.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office has since charged the pair with murder, as well as charges related to firearms and criminal street gang activity.
Anyone with information about the ongoing investigation is urged to contact SAPD's Homicide Section Detectives at 714-245-8390. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the Orange County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 855-TIP-OCCS.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Laguna Beach police rangers initially detained two juveniles who were later determined to be witnesses, not suspects, according to police. Officers later obtained video evidence that they said showed a "juvenile suspect lighting a firework and fleeing the scene." After further investigation, police said they identified the suspect as a 13-year-old boy and obtained search warrants for his arrest and the seizure of electronic devices. The boy was then taken into custody on suspicion of felony reckless burning of forest land. "Due to the absence of any injuries or immediate threat to structures, Orange County Juvenile Hall would not accept the suspect for booking," according to police. "He was processed at the Laguna Beach Police Department and released to the custody of his parents." The case will be submitted to the Orange County District Attorney's Office for review and the possible filing of criminal charges, police added. 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Wife of man detained by ICE in hallway of Franklin County traffic court says community is ‘very afraid'
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Surveillance video from the Franklin County Municipal Court shows a man being detained by ICE in a hallway after appearing in traffic court. The man, Leonardo Fausto, of Westerville, was in court on June 3 for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license — a misdemeanor charge that was dismissed. He pleaded guilty to driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone and was fined $100 plus another $102 in costs for a total of $202, online records show. The case has been closed. Columbus social media influencer pleads guilty to $20 million Ponzi scheme Surveillance video from the hallway outside of the courtroom shows Fausto leaving when a man in a baseball cap and plainclothes stops him in the hallway. The man in the cap is seen talking to Fausto before he places him in handcuffs. Fausto is then escorted out of the courthouse. The video does not have audio. The case has caught the attention of community activists and state leaders. 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Fausto's wife speaks Portuguese, and NBC4 spoke with her through a translator, as she shared the moment on June 3, when she found out her husband was detained. 'I got a call, it was about 12:30, and I got desperate,' Fausto's wife said. 'I was with the kids — with the three kids — and I didn't know where to start. It was just going through my head, what am I going to do? I am alone.' Fausto's lawyer, Walter Messenger, said ICE told him Fausto had missed an immigration hearing, which the lawyer said is not true. 'I've attended every hearing with him,' Messenger said. Fausto works in construction during the week. On weekends, he and his wife sell pizza. They're involved in church, and their youngest child is a U.S. citizen — born after they fled Brazil. 'We love this place, but since we don't have a citizenship, we don't have documents,' Fausto's wife said. 'We are just exposed to what is happening now.' They left Brazil after threats toward their family, and came to central Ohio seeking asylum, which is a form of protection that allows people to remain in a country instead of returning home, where they face harm. 'There is a provision in their order of supervision that they can't violate any ordinances, that's one way, you know, they are able to detain,' Messenger said. 'But in the past, this has never been a problem. ICE would not go to courthouses in Franklin County and pick up someone after they paid a speeding ticket unless there was another serious crime involved.' In this case, there is no other crime alleged. Fausto pleaded guilty to speeding and was picked up by ICE on his way down the hall to pay the fine. 'I explain to my oldest that we are in a country that it's not our country and they don't want us, but we have to do everything we can,' Fausto's wife said. 'We have to do what is right. I explain that his daddy is in prison, but that his daddy will be out soon. That we have to pray to God.' Fausto's lawyer is working to get him released from Butler County. The lawyer has to prove Fausto will attend all his court hearings and is not a danger to the community. 'That's going to be easy because he hasn't committed any crimes,' Messenger said. 'We also have to prove that he's going to show up to his court hearings. That's going to be easy because I've attended every hearing with him.' 'Our community is very afraid,' Fausto's wife said. 'People are afraid to leave their houses. People are afraid to go to work. People are very afraid to walk on the streets. We need to ask help to whoever we can help us. I need to ask help for whoever can help my husband.' NBC4 Investigates received a statement from a representative with Franklin County Municipal Court stating, 'The court's longstanding practice has been to allow law enforcement to operate in public areas outside the courtrooms.' In Common Pleas court, where usually more serious cases are heard, the court has issued two new rules, stating the court 'prohibits civil arrests without a judicial warrant within the courthouse grounds' and it 'prohibits arrests by judicial warrant within the Judges' courtrooms, except when enforcement agencies have requested and received written approval of a Judge.' Fausto's lawyer said a federal ICE agent detained Fausto. NBC4 reached out to the federal media contact for ICE and has not yet received a response. We also reached out to the offices of U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted for comment but have not yet received a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
