Funeral for slain Richmond teen on Friday
on August 31, 2011
Funeral services for a local teen who was shot and killed Aug. 23 will be held at St. Cornelius Parish in Richmond on Friday.
Elvis Alfaro-Escobar, 17, was shot multiple times at around 9:45 p.m. near the corner of Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. He was pronounced dead after being airlifted to John Muir Medical Center.
(photo by Robert Rogers)
“At this point, we have no new information or suspects, only the basic description,” said Det. Nicole Abetkov. “There hasn’t been a lot of information coming in from potential witnesses.”
Abetkov said family members of the teen alerted the department last week that they were interested in holding a peace rally Thursday near the spot where the boy was slain.
Family friends said Escobar’s parents and extended family hoped to honor their son and head off future violence.
“(We are) planning a rally,” said Susana Montelongo, a friend and former classmate of Escobar’s at Richmond High School. “A march to protest against the violence.”
Escobar’s funeral is scheduled for noon Friday at St. Cornelius Parish. Following the service, he will be buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in San Pablo.
Escobar is listed in an online list as a June 2011 graduate of Richmond High School.
At the spot where he was killed, a picture of Escobar, dressed in his graduation cap and gown, was fastened to a black iron gate on Tuesday. Below sat a cluster of candles, most adorned with depictions of Jesus Christ. An irregularly-shaped stain of dried blood spread over the sidewalk.
Residents in this mostly Latino and African American neighborhood were mum on what happened to Alfaro.
“It’s a shame what happened to that kid, but I got no idea what (the shooting) is about,” said a resident on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue who declined to give his name. “It’s not my business.”
Abetkov said police have no reason to believe Escobar’s killing was gang-related. Abetkov said Escobar was conversing with a group of friends and neighbors on Pennsylvania Avenue earlier that evening. At some point, Abetkov said, Escobar walked away.
A gunman approached Escobar on foot and shot him in the back multiple times, Abetkov said.
The shooter has been described only as a black male with a slight build, and was last seen running south on Ninth Street.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Hector Esparza at (510) 620-6673 or use the Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (510) 232-TIPS or send tips by text message or email to Tips2RPD@richmondpd.net.
Richmond Confidential welcomes comments from our readers, but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic. Comments post automatically without review from our staff, but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous, a personal attack, or spam. We request that commenters consistently use the same login name. Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted. Richmond Confidential assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content.
Richmond Confidential
Richmond Confidential is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Richmond, California. Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city.
Please send news tips to richconstaff@gmail.com.
