Police Arrest Two for Shooting Death of Samuel Nava III

Hayward Police have arrested two suspects involved in the 2010 shooting of former Samuel Nava III, a 17-year-old high school athlete whose death shocked the community.

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.

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 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.

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.