Police Say Random Shooting Wasn’t; Son, Wife Charged in Woman’s Death : Violence: Victim had been standing on balcony of their Santa Ana apartment when she was killed. Police say couple’s story doesn’t match evidence.

The son and daughter-in-law of a woman who was shot to death on her balcony Sunday evening--originally thought to be the victim of random street violence--were arrested Wednesday as suspects.

The son, Santos Alvarez Roque, had told police that his mother had been the victim of gang gunfire, and in an interview this week tearfully begged people “not to be so cruel, to think about the people who are affected” by the careless use of guns.

He and his wife, Maria Bruno Soto, both 24, were arrested on suspicion of homicide after police discovered discrepancies between their accounts of the killing and physical evidence.

“Just about the time I think I know everything,” Police Lt. Robert Helton said, “you get thrown a curve.”

Valentina Roque, a 55-year-old grandmother who came here from Mexico eight months ago and was planning to return soon, was shot once in the chest on the balcony of her son and daughter-in-law’s apartment.

Helton said that investigators became suspicious as they talked to the couple and analyzed the evidence at the crime scene and in the autopsy.

“Based on the inconsistencies of their statements and the physical evidence--which I cannot discuss with you--the investigators believe that (Alvarez and Soto) are responsible for the homicide of Mrs. Roque,” Helton said. “Originally, from what we were told, (we believed) there were some people down on the street corner and someone from that street corner fired several bullets, one of which struck Mrs. Roque. . . . Through interviews and the investigation and the physical evidence, we do not believe that to be the case.”

Helton would not say what the motive was or how the shooting happened. But police still believe the shot came from outside. They are seeking a small-caliber handgun that belongs to Alvarez.

On Tuesday, at about the same time investigators began to suspect that Alvarez was the killer, he told The Times, “I am a Catholic and believe that whomever did this will pay before God.” Weeping, he guessed that his mother had been the victim of gang- or drug-related violence.

A 15-year-old boy who was arrested Monday on suspicion of the Roque shooting after he reportedly pointed a gun at a police officer is no longer a suspect, Helton said. However, the boy remains at Juvenile Hall because police believe he was involved in another shooting in the same neighborhood Sunday night.

Roque, who was the 17th homicide victim in Santa Ana this year, has five children, three of whom live in this country. For the past eight months, she has lived in the Casa Serena apartment building with Alvarez, Soto and their 2-year-old son.

“It’s a shock to all of us because they’re really nice people,” said Margarita Pacheco, 23, who lives in Casa Serena near Roque’s apartment.

Pacheco and other neighbors said the family was close, often going to the market together. A few minutes after the shooting Sunday night, Pacheco said, she heard Alvarez screaming “My mom! My mom!”

“He was really torn up about it,” she remembered, stunned to learn that Alvarez was now under suspicion himself. “They did stuff together constantly.”

Benita Duarte, a close friend of the family, said earlier this week that “there were no rivalries” in the family. “He is a tranquil person,” she said of Alvarez.

Alvarez works at a local manufacturing plant, and told reporters that he brought his mother to the United States last year because he feared for her health.

“I loved my old lady and I wanted to take care of her because she no longer is a young woman and things are hard for her back home,” he said. Promising to move from the apartment where Roque was killed, he added: “This apartment will bring me only memories of her, and I find that unbearable. We have to move away, perhaps back to Mexico.”

Alvarez and Soto are held in the city’s jail, and bail has been set at $250,000 each.

Times staff writers Alicia Di Rado and Fernando Romero and correspondent Mary Lou Pickel contributed to this article.