South Hayward man shot and killed
April 30, 2015
The Hayward Police Department identified the 27-year-old man who was shot and killed in the Fairway Park neighborhood of Hayward Saturday night as Theodore Mejia.
Mejia, a Hayward resident, was found near the Baywood Apartments complex on Brae Burn Avenue between Gresel Street and Rousseau Street off of Mission Boulevard. According to HPD, several 911 calls were made reporting gunshots in the area where Mejia’s body was discovered just before 10 p.m.
The first officers on the scene found Mejia with several gunshot wounds and despite emergency response team efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene before midnight. Police have not announced any motives or suspects in the killing and no arrests have been made.
“I heard a lot of shots, one after another, it seemed like they never stopped,” Alexis Cromartie said, a resident of the Fairway Park neighborhood near where the victim was found. “I didn’t look at the clock but I know it was early and they scared me.”
An impromptu candlelight vigil was held on Sunday evening at the same location where Mejia was found. Over one hundred family and friends, who knew Mejia affectionately as “Teddy”, showed up to talk and share memories about their loved one.
The crowd set up a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk in front of the apartments where pictures, alcohol bottles, marijuana paraphernalia and other memorabilia were laid out in remembrance of the lifelong Hayward native. Mejia attended several Hayward schools that included Ruus Elementary School, Cesar Chavez Middle School, Tennyson High School and the Hayward Community School at the Eden Youth and Family Center.
This is the second person killed after being shot in Hayward this month. On April 3 22-year-old William Pacheco Jr. was shot and killed on Jefferson Street near Mission Boulevard in Hayward. No suspects have been named in the shooting death of the Hayward native, Pacheco Jr.
Mejia leaves behind five children and a page on the Go Fund Me website has been set up in his name. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.
