By Stephen Magagnini, Ed Fletcher and Kim Minugh:
The search for a man suspected of shooting and killing two men Saturday night at a Quinceañera celebration in Galt ended Thursday evening with Alfredo Daniel Tafoya (left photo), 18, behind bars.
At 5:50 p.m., Tafoya, 18, was pulled from an apartment complex in the 4900 block of Mack Road in south Sacramento by Sacramento police officers. Agencies throughout the region, including the FBI, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and Galt Police Department, were involved in the hunt.
Officials said they just missed an opportunity earlier Thursday to apprehend Tafoya at a Rancho Cordova home by a matter of minutes.
As the manhunt wore on, Esperanza Chavez - who was standing behind her husband, Carlos Alonso Montes, 24, the moment he was shot to death - cried out for justice.
"It's not fair he's running around living his life," Chavez told The Bee hours before Tafoya's arrest while their 2-year-old son, Carlos Jr., cried " Mama, Mama" in the background.
"It's just heartbreaking - he was the best person in the world," Chavez said of her husband. "A fight broke out, he tried to separate the people, and somebody fired some shots and unfortunately hit my husband."
At least four or five people were involved in the fistfight inside the Estrellita Ballroom, according to video viewed by police, said Galt Police Lt. Kenneth Erickson.
Chavez said her husband, who drove up with the family from La Puente near Los Angeles, didn't know anybody involved in the 11 p.m. shooting.
Also slain was Efrain Zambrano, 20, who had just finished training to become a mechanic.
Both died as their cousin's Quinceañera party attended by 300 was winding down. A Quinceañera is a coming-of- age ceremony when a girl turns 15.
Montes was slain in front of his entire family, said his shaken sister, Mayra Guerrero. "My mom, his wife, his son and my three little brothers were all there."
Neither victim had any gang ties, relatives said.
Police agreed. "We haven't identified any gang connections," Erickson said.
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