Two Hayward Suspects Arrested for Shooting Death of Samuel Nava III

Updated April 3, 8:35 a.m.

Hayward Police released information on Friday indicating that they had arrested two suspects involved in the 2010 shooting of former Castro Valley native Samuel Nava III.

Hayward residents Robert Joseph Yim, 21, and Veronica Rodriguez, 20, were arrested on Friday after Hayward police investigators determined them to be suspects in the case through "forensics examinations and witness accounts," according to a release by police. 

The two were leaving a Newark residence when a Newark SWAT team took them into custody without incident. Both are being held for one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder, according to Hayward police. They are scheduled to be arraigned today in Alameda County Superior Court at 2 p.m.

On May 3, 2010 at about 6:45 p.m., Samuel Nava III, who was 17 at the time, was shot and killed while riding in a car in Hayward. He was in the backseat of a vehicle, which was making a U-turn from north Mission Boulevard to south Mission Boulevard at the intersection with Industrial Parkway.

Initial reports indicated that the gunman was standing on the center median as he shot at the vehicle and its occupants. Police found Nava about a mile south of that location, and he was rushed to Eden Medical Center where he died.

Shortly after the shooting, police said they were investigating
the possibility that the driver of the car had exchanged disparaging remarks
with the shooter.

Nava's friends told police that they had encountered the shooter
in a park shortly before the incident.

Nava was born in Castro Valley and was a varsity baseball player at Hayward High School. He was also the great-great grandson of Pancho Villa, as reported in an previous article by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bay City News contributed to this report.