More than 200 mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Ernesto Castro Sanchez Jr. at Sunnyvale’s Encinal Park just five days after the 20-year-old Sunnyvale resident was gunned down at the park.
Family members and friends took turns speaking and sharing stories of the Wilcox High School graduate, holding their candles as the sun set.
The vigil was organized with the hopes that the community would learn more about the person he was in everyday life and not just in the police report.
The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety reported that the shooting, which happened at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, may be gang-related. Sunnyvale DPS Capt. Jeffrey Hunter would not elaborate, saying that the case is still under investigation.
There has been no arrest in the case.
Sanchez’s family says he was merely an unfortunate victim of an awful crime.
The incident was the first homicide of the year for the city of Sunnyvale, and the first possibly gang-related homicide in seven years.
“When the case was deemed as being the result of gang violence, that doesn’t mean the people involved are gang members,” said Sanchez’s first cousin, Enrique Garcia. “Being from San Jose, I have seen there’s a war going on in certain neighborhoods and certain streets, but not everyone is a soldier in that war. Some are just casualties, and he was a casualty.”
Garcia added that the family is hurt that Sanchez is being cast in a bad light.
“It was important to us to show he was just a regular kid,” Garcia said. “He went to school here. He volunteered here. He knew people here.”
Sanchez graduated from Wilcox High in 2012. Prior to that he attended Peterson Middle School. He was a member of a local church and volunteered at Victory Outreach in San Jose.
He was known for always making jokes and for his passion for drawing.
“He was just a big, funny guy full of jokes,” Garcia said. “He was the kind of person you can’t see hurting a fly. He was always happy, always smiling and laughing. He wouldn’t miss an opportunity to make a joke. He is definitely somebody that will be missed.”
In just six days the family was able to raise $9,100, more than doubling their goal of $4,000, with the support of 100 people on the website gofundme.com to help with funeral costs.
The fundraiser site was shared 215 times on Facebook.
The vigil was coordinated by the nonprofit Mothers Against Murder, with the goal of standing up against violent crimes and sending a message to gangs.
“You are not welcome in our neighborhoods, and you will be brought to justice,” Margaret Petros of Mothers Against Murder said in a press release.
