Stockton woman shot dead Sunday morning identified by medical examiner

A party ended Sunday morning with bloodshed as Stockton police are again tasked with solving a homicide involving a gun.

Yolanda Alvarado, 46, was shot and killed around 2 a.m. Sunday at her east Stockton home, amid a late-night party, neighbors and Stockton police said.

Those who knew Alvarado had good things to say.

"I've been here 19 years, and they (Yolanda and her husband) always look after me," Jeff Stift, who lives across the street from Alvarado, said Monday.

The 46-year-old's shooting occurred just six days after two other gun deaths in east Stockton. On Wednesday, two men were found slain in their home roughly 2.5 miles east, on North Oro Drive, sheriff's officials said.

There have been at least two other homicides reported in east Stockton this year.

'I thought it was shots in the air'

According to Stift, the evening of Alvarado's death began with a party.

Alvarado's family often threw parties at their home on East Lafayette Street, Stift said. The home is located beside the Crosstown Freeway, a few doors down from the Locust Street intersection.

Stift had been invited a couple of times, he said. Sometimes, you could hear music from a mariachi band playing in the home, Stift said.

On Saturday night, just hours before Alvarado's death, around 20 cars filled the curbs between Stift's and Alvarado's homes, Stift said.

Stift was in bed when, sometime around 2 a.m., he heard "eight to 10 shots," he said.

"I thought it was shots in the air," Stift recalled.

Then, a car could be heard fleeing off down the street, he said. Soon, about eight Stockton police units, an ambulance and a fire truck swarmed the neighborhood, the neighbor said.

The department shared no information about a suspect or motive in Alvarado's killing. However, they did say sometime after officers arrived, a 31-year-old man "became combative and assaulted two officers," a police department statement read.

Officers used a Taser on the man and arrested him on suspicion of hitting an officer, resisting arrest and public intoxication, according to officers.

He was released from jail Sunday, online custody records show.

Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call Stockton Police Department at (209) 946-0600.

Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record athttps://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton woman shot dead Sunday morning identified