Faith Elizabeth Valenzuela was 29 and a cheerleading coach in Salinas, California when she was shot and killed on July 5, 2022. While Valenzuela was driving, Bustamantez allegedly used a 9mm semiautomatic ghost gun from the passenger seat to shoot her. The vehicle struck a wooden fence; a police officer found Valenzuela unconscious with gunshot wounds and she died at the hospital about an hour later.

Investigators identified Bustamantez as the prime suspect; police say the discarded firearm and DNA evidence linked him to the scene, witnesses reported that Valenzuela had been trying to cut off contact in the days before her death, and Bustamantez was arrested two days after the shooting. Valenzuela coached at Everett Alvarez High School and is survived by a 10-year-old daughter; a GoFundMe was begun to support the family.