On the evening of January 7, 2017, Elianna Cruz, a 26-year-old Hispanic female from Stamford, was unwittingly caught in the crossfire of a violent dispute. She was seated in the front passenger seat of her boyfriend's car outside the El Flamboyan restaurant on East Main Street in Bridgeport shortly after 9 p.m. Her boyfriend, Kelvin Soto, was in the driver's seat, and three other men were in the back of the vehicle. It was then that their car was suddenly riddled with bullets.
Cruz was struck in the head during the barrage of gunfire. In the immediate aftermath, Soto drove her to Bridgeport Hospital. Despite medical efforts, Elianna Cruz succumbed to her injuries four days later.
The investigation into the shooting moved swiftly. Surveillance footage from the area showed two individuals approaching the car from an alley. One of the men, the shorter of the two, pulled out a handgun and fired multiple times at the vehicle before both fled the scene. Police identified the shooter as 16-year-old Sebastian "Bash" Serrano. It was determined that Cruz was not the intended target of the attack. Serrano had a grievance with her boyfriend, Kelvin Soto, and had intended to shoot him. In a tragic turn of events, Cruz became the sole victim of the shooting, while Soto and the other passengers were unharmed.
On January 11, the same day Cruz died, members of a Gang Task Force pulled over a car carrying Serrano and an 18-year-old associate, Hykeem Peterson. Inside the vehicle, they discovered the 9mm pistol that was later confirmed to be the weapon used in the shooting. Serrano was arrested and charged with murder, first-degree reckless endangerment, and carrying a pistol without a permit. He initially claimed to have found the gun near the scene of the crime after someone else had dropped it.
Ultimately, Sebastian Serrano pleaded guilty to the murder of Elianna Cruz. In February 2018, the now 17-year-old expressed remorse in court, offering an apology to Cruz's family. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her murder. Elianna Cruz, a mother of three young children, was remembered as an innocent victim whose life was cut short by a senseless act of violence. Her death left her family, including her mother who would go on to raise her grandchildren, devastated by the loss.
