ABC360 | October 18, 2024
The mother of a Hanford boy who died at the hands of his father is now one step closer to justice as new documents reveal how the killer got the gun.
Victor Gomes shot and killed his son, Wyland, before turning the weapon on himself at a Hanford home in 2020. Wyland was 10 years old.
“He was funny and smart and polite and quiet,” his mother, Christy Camara, said.
Camara has been pushing for answers since the tragic day. Investigators say her estranged husband used a handgun he bought legally years earlier. But Camara says Victor never should have had that firearm because of restraining orders filed against him.
Her attorney, Joseph Alioto Jr., agrees with Camara and said that at that time, Gomes was subject to a restraining order that prohibited him from purchasing guns. And yet, the Department of Justice approved his background check.
“We know that he was prohibited possessor.” Alioto said. “The records show that of the four restraining orders that were issued against Victor Gomes by the Superior Court, the Superior Court only entered one of those in accordance with the law.”
Alioto sued the California Department of Justice in 2022, demanding the department release several documents detailing how Victor bought the gun. The DOJ objected over confidentiality and legal concerns. Then, late last month, a San Francisco court ruling required the DOJ to turn over the records and make them public. Alioto says the records prove the gun purchase was only allowed because something slipped through the cracks.
Camara is now trying to raise awareness and pursue changes to ensure such lapses do not happen again.
“I can’t bring my son back, but if we could just save one child and one family from going through the pain that my family and my community and I have been through, then it will be worth it.”
Since 2021, Alioto has been tirelessly pursuing the Department of Justice, the State of California, and the Superior Court of Kings County to discover how and why the State allowed a man to arm himself while he was under an active court order preventing him from buying guns. Alioto has sued the Department of Justice for refusing to provide records that would explain the government’s error. (Christy Camara Gomes v. Dep’t of Justice (S.F. Superior Court), case no. 22-CPF-517886 [access the case by inputting the case number into “Civil Case Query” here].) Alioto has also sued the Superior Court of Kings County, the State of California, and the Department of Justice for Wyland’s wrongful death. (Christy Camara Gomes v. State of California, et al. (Kings Co. Superior Court), case no. 23CU0424 [access case records here].) Together, Alioto and Christy seek to hold the government accountable and ensure the errors that led to Wyland’s tragic death are never repeated.