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More than three decades after a young father was shot dead in his northern suburb California home, investigators say they have solved the case – and arrested two men they allege were behind the 1993 murder.
30-year-old Zachary Jackson was found dead with his stomach inside haywardCalifornia, home on June 17, 1993. Investigators believe he was murdered around June 14, but relatives did not find his body for several days because they had not heard from him. Alameda County Sheriff’s Detective Pat Smith said At a press conference on Monday.
Now, after years with no answers, investigators say Jackson’s former partner, Veronica Fonseca, and her boyfriend at the time, Anthony Foxx, are responsible for his murder.
“We believe both of them were there and Mr. Fox was the one who pulled the trigger,” Smith said.
He added, “At that time, our investigators interviewed Ms. Fonseca several times, but there was nothing at that time to lead them to believe she had any involvement in this case.”
“As you can imagine, in 1993, they didn’t have a lot of things to look for clues that we have available to us today. We didn’t have any electronic footprints like these days; they relied a lot more on witnesses, fingerprints, that kind of thing.” dna It was in its infancy.”
Smith said that before Jackson’s death, she and Fonseca were co-parenting two children, a four-year-old daughter in her custody and a one-year-old son in Fonseca’s care.
For years, investigators pursued theories including a possible dispute between Jackson and his landlord, but no arrests were made. Hence the case went cold without any concrete leads.
Then, in 2014, police received a tip that named Fonseca and Fox as people allegedly connected to Jackson’s death. Investigators began investigating leads, but according to Smith, “encountered an obstacle” that brought the case to a halt once again.
Seven years later, in 2021, another anonymous tip submitted to the sheriff’s website pointed to the same two names – Fonseca and Fox. The tipster later agreed to speak with Smith, but the matter stalled due to what he described as “obstructions.”
“The case didn’t really move forward until this year, when we developed an investigative plan to try to bring this case forward,” Smith said. “Over the past few months, a lot of investigative resources have been poured into this case, and more witnesses cooperated and told a similar story to our previous tipsters.”
The matter finally came to light on 6 November.
Fonseca, now 54, was arrested at her home in Queens, New York, and Fox, 56, was taken into custody outside her home in Sioux City, Iowa, the same day, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Both have been charged with murder and first-degree residential burglary, with a sentencing enhancement for use of a firearm.
While not providing details about the new evidence that ultimately led to the charges, Smith said he did not want to jeopardize the prosecution.
Smith said, “This case is a great example of what happens when good people have the courage to come forward and tell law enforcement what they know, with law enforcement leveraging all investigative resources to bring this case to resolution.”
Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dixon praised the multi-agency effort that led to the charges, calling it an overdue step toward justice.
“We cannot forget that victims want and need closure in their cases,” Dixon said. “This is a case that took 32 years to solve, but there’s no limit on when we can charge you with murder.”
Both Fonseca and Fox will be extradited to Alameda County to face arraignment in the coming weeks.