Oxnard Man Shot by Stranger : Former Soccer Pro Fatally Wounded Outside Restaurant

As police searched for his killer Monday, the family and friends of a popular Oxnard soccer player struggled to understand how a man who had managed to evade trouble all his life could be gunned down beside his wife and children.

Roberto Calderon Leyva, 35, was shot once in the stomach Sunday night as he exited the Toppers Pizza Place, 2100 S. Saviers Road, after a confrontation with some other patrons. He was pronounced dead at St. John’s Regional Medical Center early Monday morning.

Accounts of the incident vary, but Leyva was apparently shot by a young man--described by Oxnard police as a gang member with a criminal record--who accused him of staring at a female companion.

“It just seems like the suspect was trying to save face for the disrespect shown to the young lady who was with him,” said Oxnard Sgt. Cliff Troy, who is in charge of the investigation. “Apparently he was short-tempered.”

Oxnard police investigators could not remember another slaying in recent history that erupted over such a trivial incident between two strangers.

“It’s kind of frightening when you think you can’t go out to eat dinner,” said Sgt. Charles Hookstra, who supervises Oxnard’s gang unit.

Nearly four years ago, an Oxnard teen-ager was fatally shot by a reputed gang member because he was staring at him and his friends in their car. Gang members refer to such a stare-down as “mad-dogging.”

Tony Magana, a close friend of Leyva since the two were children in La Colonia, said Leyva has always steered clear of trouble, looking for refuge in sports.

“I used to get into trouble, and so did some of his other friends,” said Magana, who stayed at Leyva’s bedside late into the night. “But when I did those things, he would go the other way.”

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Leyva was a star goalkeeper for the Oxnard Nacional of the California Soccer League from 1974 to 1992, and played professionally for the L.A. Aztecs in the mid-80s, said Zeferino (Chino) Cano, a former coach of the Nacional.

“He was a good influence on younger players,” Cano said. “He tried to keep other players off the streets and out of gangs.”

After his retirement, he began coaching the Nacional little league soccer team, and bragged to friends about his 8-year-old son, Enrique, and his interest in the game, Magana said.

“That’s what makes this so sad,” Magana said. “He wanted his son to play soccer and stay out of gangs.”

During the last eight years Leyva held various railroad jobs. After being laid off by the Southern Pacific Transportation Co., he took a job with Amtrak about a year ago. He was recently promoted, and intended to travel to San Diego on Monday for training in his new position, family members said.

One of 10 children, Leyva moved to Oxnard from Guanajuato, Mexico in the late 1960s with his farm worker parents. All seven of Leyva’s sisters and one of his brothers mourned Monday at a relative’s house in Port Hueneme, seeking a way to break the news to their elderly parents, who were flying in Monday night after vacationing in Chicago.

“They both have diabetes and high blood pressure,” said sister Esperanza Gonzalez. “We’re afraid of their reaction. We’re prepared here with the doctors and everything.”

Leyva’s wife, Susana, who initially refused to believe that her husband had died, was sedated Monday.

Family members said Leyva spent Sunday watching the World Cup with his wife, son and 6-year-old daughter Mary Carmen. The family then went to Toppers Pizza for dinner.

A disturbance broke out in the restaurant when a young man accused Leyva of making improper eye contact with his female companion--either his sister or a friend, police said.

Gonzalez said the young man asked Leyva: “Are you looking at my sister?”

Leyva then reportedly replied: “I’m not looking at your sister, and I can look anywhere I want.”

When the manager asked them both to leave, they continued talking in the parking lot. Leyva pushed his wife and children out of the way as the youth produced a gun and fired two shots, one of which struck Leyva in the abdomen.

The man and a female companion left the parking lot in a charcoal gray truck followed by a witness, police said. They abandoned the truck about four miles away on El Dorado Avenue after hitting another vehicle, police said.

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Both fled the scene on foot. The car was impounded Sunday night and examined for fingerprints Monday.

Police later arrested the suspect’s sister after questioning her. She was booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of aiding a fleeing felon. Her name and the name of the suspect have not been released pending further questioning of witnesses.

The Garcia Mortuary in Oxnard is handling arrangements.

Miguel Bustillo is a Times staff writer and Julie Fields is a correspondent.