MARTINEZ — A month after Concord police identified him as the shooter in a March homicide, a 20-year-old man was arrested on murder charges and booked in a Contra Costa jail, court records show.
Sione Amanaki, of Concord, was arrested April 16 on charges that he killed 21-year-old Eric William Cavazos. Amanaki was arraigned May 10, where a judge revoked his bail, according to court records.
Amanaki and his co-defendant, 19-year-old Haley Sparks-Hadsell, of Martinez are both charged with killing and robbing Cavazos on March 21 during a brief altercation outside a shoe store in the Solano Plaza shopping center, located at Solano Way and Broadmoor Avenue. Sparks-Hadsell was arrested hours after the shooting.
Police say surveillance footage shows Cavazos arrive at the shopping center and begin a conversation with Amanaki and Sparks-Hadsell, who were already waiting in the area. A short time later, a man identified as Amanaki was seen pulling out a rifle, leading to a brief struggle over the gun. That’s when Amanaki allegedly wrestled the gun free, stepped back, and shot Cavazos in the head.
Using area surveillance footage and eyewitnesses, police were able to show that Amanaki travelled to his Concord home immediately after the shooting, according to authorities. When officers went there looking for him he was gone, but a relative identified him in a still of the surveillance footage, police say.
Cavazos died where he was shot, before an ambulance arrived, police said. After he fell to the ground, Sparks-Hadsell allegedly rifled through his pockets before running off. An online obituary for Cavazos, a Concord resident, describes him as “a great example of someone who has both strength and love.”
By www.mercurynews.com
