Susana Ortiz, 48, was shot and killed on July 4, 2022, just after 11 p.m. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Bakersfield. Officers found her critically wounded and she was taken to Kern Medical, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Two other people were injured in the same incident, including a juvenile boy with non-life-threatening wounds.

Police classified the event as a homicide. Initial reports said no suspect information was available, but the investigation later identified multiple suspects. By December 2022 four teenagers had been arrested; one suspect remained at large, described as 19-year-old Demarko Hegwood, a black male about 5 feet 6 inches and 130 pounds. Ortiz’s daughter-in-law, Maria Villarreal, who was also shot that night and survived, said Ortiz had put her grandchildren inside the house before being killed.

Anyone with information that could help locate the remaining suspect or assist the investigation is asked to come forward.