Mother of girl shot dead on East Bay freeway speaks out
OAKLAND -- The mother of a little girl shot dead on an East Bay freeway last year is speaking out publicly for the first time.
"I'm here to fight because she was only five years old and she's not here anymore," cried Sophia, who declined to provide her last name due to safety concerns.
The California Highway Patrol said suspected gang members shot and killed her daughter Eliyanah Crisostomo last April when the family was on their way to a birthday party.
Investigators said it was a case of mistaken identity where the suspects mistook the victims as rival gang members and the gunmen just fired shots into the vehicle on Interstate 880 in Fremont.
"My daughter was just excited to go to a birthday party to eat her cake. The whole drive there, she was worried about her cake," Sophia said Saturday.
Alameda County prosecutors filed murder charges against three suspects. So far, they have not added gang or gun enhancements.
"My six-year-old son who was sitting next to her has to endure that vision of his sister being shot right next to him and missing him by inches. We deserve justice," Sophia said.
She said they feel re-victimized by Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price. Sophia called for Price to add the enhancements.
"I don't understand how you can go harder on a cop killer but not a child killer. Because every life matters," Sophia said.
Sophia and several other families of murder victims spoke out against Price in front of Oakland city hall on Saturday morning. They accused the D.A. of ignoring victims' families and protecting criminals.
"Pamela Price and her whole regime -- she's a public defender, she's not a district attorney -- and she needs to be recalled!" said Patricia Harris, mother of homicide victim Jarin Purvis.
Price attended two events on Saturday including a unity event in Oakland's Chinatown. She and community members said that, in light of the recent killing of Oakland police officer Tuan Le, it was time for people to unite and heal.
"There's a great fear in the land. I'm a woman of faith a nd I have faith where there's hopelessness and where there's fear, that there has to be love," Price told the crowd at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.
KPIX tried to ask her about the families' accusations but she declined to take any questions from the media.
Supporters said Price won the election by promising to reform the criminal justice system and the D.A. has said in the past that longer prison sentences don't make communities safer.
Sophia vows to keep fighting.
"I just want justice because that's what (Eliyanah) deserves," Sophia said.
Sophia said the suspects in Eliyanah Crisostomo's case will appear in court on Feb. 20 for the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors told Sophia they cannot add the gun and gang enhancements without permission from D.A. Price.
