Jul 1, 2008

Murder victim attempted to call police

Cell phone call routed to different agency

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

Minutes before Teresa Sanchez and her brother Omar Aquino were shot to death in their Mountain View home Saturday morning, police believe Sanchez may have called 911 to report a break-in.

At 3:54 a.m., a California Highway Patrol dispatcher in Vallejo called Mountain View police to report a wireless 911 call. The dispatcher thought the caller said someone was breaking into a house on "Clemon" street, though there is no such street in Mountain View.

As the caller was being transferred to local police, she either hung up or was cut off.

At 4:53 a.m., Mountain View police responded to a report of gunshots on the 1900 block of Plymouth Street.

Officers entered the home to find Sanchez, 27, and Aquino, 24, dead from multiple bullet wounds.

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office has identified Sanchez as Maria Teresa Sanchez.

Police also found Sanchez's 8-year-old son sleeping in a bedroom, unharmed, and took him out through the bedroom window to shield him from the crime scene in the living room, police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said.

Thankfully, he had slept through the entire event, she said, and is now staying with family.

After matching Sanchez's cell phone number with the 911 caller's, police are certain it's the same.

Wylie said she hasn't heard the CHP recording, but thinks the call lasted just a few seconds.

While 911 calls in Mountain View are usually routed to local police, Sanchez was routed to a CHP dispatcher because of the house's proximity to Highway 101.

In the hour between the first and second calls, Mountain View police attempted to secure the caller's address through her cell phone provider and contacted other cities to determine where the caller was.

On Saturday afternoon, neighbors were shocked over the slayings, describing the two victims as quiet people and their neighborhood as peaceful for the most part.

Once in a while, neighbor Robert Garcia told the Daily News, some graffiti and a few gang members show up on the street.

Despite some published reports suggesting Aquino may have a gang-related past, Wylie said police are still investigating what could have prompted the killings.

Detectives have ruled out robbery because nothing was taken, Wylie said.

And there also was no evidence of a forced entry.

So far, police believe that there were multiple suspects, who may have known the victims, and that an argument may have sparked the attack.

One neighbor spotted a man leaving the residence and fleeing in a dark sedan.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Saturday's double homicide to call the Mountain View Police Department at 650-903-6344.

People may call with information anonymously, Wylie said.

E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.