Homicides

A Sacramento man has been arrested in the Monday afternoon shooting death of his 18-year-old brother.

A physician at a Roseville hospital said Wednesday he suspected that an unresponsive 16-month-old girl brought to the emergency room last year was a victim of shaken baby syndrome.

The small Elder Creek Road home where Sergio Bravo had hoped to raise his seven children with his wife, Maria, had fallen quiet.

Hundreds of supporters are expected this afternoon at the West Coast Diversity Summit in Sacramento to unite in the name of Satender Singh and bring grass-roots groups together against the hate they blame in the death of the young Fijian immigrant.

Nearly every night, somewhere in Sacramento, gunshots puncture the air. By the end of most weekends, there is another homicide to report, another curbside memorial with flowers and photos of a young man or woman shot to death, usually by young people associated with gangs.

An 18-year-old Sacramento man was arrested Saturday in connection with the death of a young woman found shot in the back seat of a sport-utility vehicle in El Dorado Hills early that morning.

Belen Pacheco was known to walk past the potted palms and marble entryway of the downtown high-rise where she worked as a janitor until midnight, and then trek five miles to her south Sacramento home.

Sacramento detectives say they are solving a greater percentage of homicides this year than in 2006, a result they attribute to fewer killings, more resources and ongoing crackdowns on street gangs.

For more than a month, the family of Joseph Dutt had watched and waited and prayed that the Sacramento man would wake up.