Family members received messages from the missing Hayward, but he had already been killed, police said

HAYWARD. Just 30 days after he was placed on probation and house arrest for shooting up a parked car, a Hayward man was charged with killing his father and dumping the body in a Union City dumpster, court records show.

David Sanchez, 25, allegedly tried to cover up the crime by sending text messages to family members and his father’s employers. But he wasn’t fast enough for police, who say they searched the home where the father and son lived, finding a bloody crime scene, spent shell casings and evidence that Sanchez was about to dig a deep hole somewhere.

It was established that the victim is 58-year-old Hector Sanchez. Court documents show that David and Hector lived together, in part because David was under house arrest.

The killing comes exactly one month after David Sanchez completed a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors in which he received six months of house arrest and one year of probation after pleading no contest to having a gun in public.

In that case, Sanchez allegedly shot at a parked car in Hayward on July 29 in an “industrial part of town,” according to court records. On the way to the jail, Sanchez told police he did it out of anger. He was charged with discharging a weapon in public, firing a gun at an occupied vehicle and two counts of being a felon in possession of a weapon, but all but one count was dropped through a plea deal, records show.

When he was arrested on suspicion of murder, David Sanchez allegedly confessed again, this time telling investigators that his father had lost the will to live and was asking him to kill him, according to court records. Sanchez also said he had planned to honor his father’s request to bury him near Lake Berryessa, but changed course at the last minute, opting instead to just dump the body in a dumpster in Union City, where police found it.

Sanchez has been charged with murder and is being held at the Santa Rita Jail without bond.

Police began investigating the incident on October 23 when family members reported that Hector Sanchez was not returning calls or showing up for work. Later that day, those close to him said they received a text from his phone explaining that he had been “running errands” all day, but they did not believe the text was actually from him.

David Sanchez also allegedly wrote to family members. He reportedly told one relative that he had an interview and that he loved her, but then refused to pick up the phone when she called him.

Hector Sanchez was already dead when the reports came in, according to police. Hayward investigators searched the Sanchez family home on American Avenue and found clear evidence that a murder had occurred. It included not only a large pool of blood, but also spent shell casings and bullet fragments, bloody clothing and a weapon, according to court records.

They also found blood in the family’s pickup truck, indicating how Hector Sanchez’s body was moved, police said. When police caught up with David Sanchez, he allegedly confessed and agreed to take police to the body.

Then there was the last terrible twist.

When authorities found the spot in Union City where David Sanchez allegedly dumped his father’s body, there was a pool of blood on the ground, but no dumpster. Officers found a dumpster in a nearby warehouse on private property and called someone associated with the business. Police said they checked the dumpster, confirmed the presence of human remains and allowed the coroner to come pick up Hector Sanchez’s body.

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 11:01 a.m. PDT