On July 20, 2024, 35-year-old Pooja Naidu was tragically killed in Fremont, California. The incident occurred at the A-1 Quick Stop on Lake Arrowhead Avenue, where Naidu and her boyfriend, Krishan Sharma, were reportedly engaged in a heated argument. Witnesses described a horrifying sequence of events: Naidu attempted to distance herself from Sharma by moving around the store's aisles, but Sharma pursued her, eventually drawing a firearm and shooting her. In a desperate bid to escape, Naidu managed to coax Sharma out of the store and locked the front door behind him. However, Sharma returned to his vehicle, a Mercedes, and rammed it into the store's entrance. As Naidu tried to flee over the car's hood, Sharma shot her again, then exited the vehicle, stomped on her head, and fired multiple additional shots, resulting in her death.
At the time of the murder, Sharma was out on bail for a previous violent offense. In May 2024, he had been arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting a female neighbor in Hayward during an argument, narrowly missing a child who was nearby. Despite the severity of these charges, Sharma posted a $200,000 bail in June and was released from custody. Just five weeks later, while still awaiting trial for the earlier incident, he committed the fatal attack on Naidu.
Following Naidu's murder, the Fremont Police Department launched an intensive investigation. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage, conducted witness interviews, and processed physical evidence, which led them to identify Sharma as the primary suspect. On July 22, 2024, officers located Sharma driving his vehicle. After a brief pursuit, he was apprehended without further incident. Sharma was arrested on charges of murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Given his prior criminal history, including convictions for drug possession and burglary nearly two decades earlier, it was illegal for him to possess firearms. He was subsequently held in Santa Rita Jail without bail, facing charges for both Naidu's murder and the earlier attempted murder case.
Authorities also revealed that there had been prior domestic violence incidents involving Sharma and Naidu. In May 2024, police responded to a domestic violence call involving the couple, who reported having been in a relationship since October 2023. Additionally, two days before the homicide, police were called to a disturbance at a hotel in Union City where Sharma and Naidu were staying, though no arrests were made at that time. These incidents underscore a pattern of escalating violence leading up to the tragic events of July 20.
The case against Sharma was presented to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, and he awaited trial for the charges related to both the murder of Naidu and the earlier attempted murder. The community mourned the loss of Naidu, whose life was cut short by this act of violence. Friends and family remembered her as a cherished individual whose memory would forever remain in their hearts.
