Arrests made in 32-year-old Alameda County killing

DUBLIN – Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a man more than 30 years ago in an unincorporated part of Hayward, authorities said.

At a news conference Monday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects as Veronica Fonseca, the mother of the victim’s two children, and her former boyfriend, Anthony Fox.

The arrest comes roughly two weeks after the sheriff’s office announced it had discovered new evidence in the killing and developed new leads based on that evidence.

The victim, 30-year-old Zachary Jackson, was found shot to death inside his home in an unincorporated part of Hayward on June 17, 1993.

Fonseca was interviewed as part of the initial investigation, but there was nothing that led detectives to believe she was involved in the killing, Detective Pat Smyth said. Detectives instead focused on a dispute Jackson was having with his landlord.

“As you can imagine, in 1993 they did not have a lot of the things that we have available to us today to find leads — no electronic footprint like we have these days,” Smyth said. “They relied heavily on witnesses, fingerprints, that sort of thing. DNA was in its infancy.”

Jackson and Fonseca were not married, but Fonseca was the mother of his daughter and son, ages 4 and 1 at the time of his death.

With no viable leads, the case went cold within a few months, according to Smyth.

In 2014, detectives received a call from someone who said they had information about Jackson’s death. Smyth said Fonseca and Fox, who dated in 1993, were identified as his killers.

Detectives, however, encountered what Smyth described as a “roadblock” and the case stalled once again.

“They just couldn’t get around it,” he said.

Another tip identifying Fonseca and Fox as the suspects arrived in 2021, Smyth said, adding that he interviewed the tipster, who “cooperated and told us everything they knew.”

Smyth said the earlier roadblock, which he declined to describe, remained, and it was not until earlier this year that the sheriff’s office came up with a plan to move the case forward.

Resources were poured into the case and other witnesses with similar stories were found.

Warrants were issued for Fonseca and Fox, and on Nov. 6, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force arrested Fonseca in Queens, New York, and the Sioux City Police Department arrested Fox in Iowa. Both are awaiting extradition to Alameda County.

Smyth said the case is a “good example of what happens when good people have the courage to come forward.”

“It’s also a reminder to those who commit the ultimate crime – taking someone’s life – there is no statute of limitations on murder,” Smyth said. “We may not get you tomorrow, next week or next month, but keep looking over your shoulder, because you ever know when the long arm of the law is going to reach out and touch you.”

The case will be “charged appropriately,” said Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, with Deputy District Attorney Jimmie Wilson adding that Fonseca and Fox are facing charges of murder and burglary “based on the facts we know.”

Smyth said Fonseca and Fox were both present when Jackson was killed and that Fox pulled the trigger, but both he and Wilson declined to share details about the motive.

“I believe this case is going to go to a jury and we don’t want to poison the jury pool,” Wilson said.

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