Jave Rex JR Garanganao, a 41-year-old security guard, was killed on December 28, 2022, outside the Lorenzo private student housing complex at 23rd and Flower streets in Los Angeles, about half a mile from the USC campus. Garanganao was working the overnight shift when he tried to escort a trespasser off the property just before 12:47 a.m.; the trespasser drew a handgun and shot him multiple times in the chest on the sidewalk. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled the manner of death homicide and listed cause of death as a gunshot wound to the chest.

Police located 31-year-old Alexander Crawford later that day sleeping in a nearby parking area and recovered a handgun; investigators say the firearm matched the caliber used in the killing and surveillance footage identified Crawford as the shooter. Crawford was booked on suspicion of murder and later charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. The community set up a GoFundMe to support Garanganao’s 13-year-old daughter.