Toddler Hit by Stray Pellets Improves; Gunman Sought

The condition of a critically injured Newhall toddler wounded by a shotgun blast from a neighboring apartment improved slightly Sunday as sheriff’s deputies continued searching for the gunman.

Silvana Cuervo, 2, was being treated for pellet wounds to the abdomen and legs at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys after the Saturday afternoon shooting outside her apartment, hospital administrators said.

“She is doing OK so far,” said nursing supervisor Suzie Sauz. “From the way she is progressing, it looks like she’ll make it.”

The toddler was standing on the balcony of her second-story apartment when a man in an apartment across a driveway fired a sawed-off shotgun during a family argument. The blast shattered the gunman’s first-floor living room window and the pellets shot upward and struck the child 25 feet away, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Weber said.

Silvana’s aunt, Emelia Cuervo, 30, was hit several times in the legs. Aurelio Cuervo, 30, the child’s uncle, was also hit in the leg when he ran onto the balcony after he heard arguing and fighting in the other apartment.

Both were treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. The man was released, but his wife remained at the hospital Sunday in stable condition.

Meanwhile, detectives continued searching for Jose Luis Diaz, 20, who investigators believe fired the 12-gauge shotgun. Shortly after the shooting, deputies surrounded the eight-unit stucco complex because three male relatives of Diaz were holed up in an apartment. After a five-hour standoff, the men surrendered and deputies learned Diaz had fled immediately after the shooting.

Deputies arrested the three men and charged them as accessories to the shooting because they had tried to hide the shotgun after Diaz fled, Weber said. The men were identified as Hipoleta Diaz Cruz, 40; Salvador Diaz Cruz, 18, and Alfredo Balbuena Diaz, 18. All were being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, Weber said.

Apartment manager Vincent Downey said Diaz, a restaurant cook, was arguing with his wife, who was planning to leave him. Other members of Diaz’s family became involved in the argument and Diaz ran into a bedroom to grab his shotgun, Downey and Weber said.

When Diaz returned to the living room, several relatives tried to wrestle the gun away from him, Downey said. During the scuffle, according to Downey, the gun fired accidentally, shattering the window and sending a spray of pellets across the driveway.

Weber said Diaz shot the gun at another family member intentionally.

Just before the shooting, Emelia Cuervo had stepped onto the balcony to hang some shirts to dry. Silvana followed her aunt through the open door and Aurelio Cuervo ran to the door to see who was causing the commotion in the other apartment, he said.

He stepped into the doorway as the blast rang out and saw his wife and niece recoil from the impact of the pellets, Weber said. Aurelio Cuervo helped his wife into the apartment. Silvana walked inside on her own and collapsed on the floor in front of her parents, Daniel and Silvia Cuervo, who share the two-bedroom apartment with the child’s aunt and uncle.

Downey said the incident was a tragic accident. He called Diaz a quiet young man who went to work every day and never caused trouble with other tenants.

“He was a very quiet, mellow guy,” Downey said.