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Gun owner may be headed to Mexico
Gang member sought for questioning in case of 3-year-old shooter
By Susan McDonough, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area

ALAMEDA — The owner of a loaded handgun used by a
3-year-old to accidentally shoot and kill a family friend Monday might be headed to Mexico, police said Wednesday.

Police said Eddy "Jovani" Silva, 24, is a gang member and may be armed.

Police found a second gun in the two-bedroom apartment on Shoreline Drive that Silva and his girlfriend Myriam Mendoza, 18, shared with her sister and her sister's boyfriend — the parents of the 3-year-old.

The .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun was found unloaded in the bedroom where the 3-year-old and his infant sister sleep with their parents. Neither parent has been charged with a crime.

Police said that after the shooting Monday, Silva picked up Mendoza from her relative's home in Hayward. Neither has come forward, police said.

The 3-year-old found the

.38-caliber handgun Monday when he knocked over a clothes hamper where Silva stored it.

Police said Silva slept with the gun for protection, possibly from rival gang members.

The boy carried the gun into the living room, where he fired a fatal bullet into the heart of family friend Luis Silva, 22, of Guatemala.

The slain man was staying with the two couples, having arrived in Alameda just a few days earlier from Southern California.

He was Eddy Silva's cousin.

Police regard the shooting as accidental but want to question Silva.

Lt. David Boersma has said Silva could face criminal charges, but not for the shooting.

The gun was unregistered, and it is illegal in California to store an unlocked weapon in a location where there are children. Police also have said Silva's immigration status is uncertain.

Silva is 5 feet 7 inches, 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos covering his back, chest, neck and shoulders.