Karen Ruiz, 35, was fatally shot on January 6, 2021, in the Pacoima area of Los Angeles. She was dropping her three-year-old daughter at a babysitter’s home when her ex-boyfriend, Herbert Nixon Flores, ambushed her. Surveillance footage showed Flores chase Karen up a driveway and fire multiple shots, killing her in broad daylight in front of the child. Flores fled in a gray sedan after the attack and was described as armed and dangerous while a manhunt by the LAPD and the FBI fugitive task force was underway.

Flores, a 46-year-old Salvadoran national with a lengthy criminal history and prior deportations, had a documented history of domestic violence and an active restraining order. Authorities reported that Flores had been arrested for domestic violence months earlier but was released despite an ICE detainer; that release has been cited as a failure that allowed him to remain in the community. On January 10, 2021, Flores was found dead in Irving, Texas, having taken his own life, ending the manhunt.

Anyone with information about Karen, her movements that day, or the circumstances leading up to the attack is asked to come forward.