On the night of December 14, 2020, 18-year-old Lisandro Mendez was shot and killed inside his Modesto home on Larkin Avenue. He and his two younger brothers were sleeping in a garage converted to a bedroom when 24-year-old Darren Womack allegedly forced his way in carrying a loaded firearm. A struggle between Mendez and Womack resulted in the gun discharging and wounding Womack in the hip; Womack then overpowered Mendez and shot him in the back. Mendez was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Womack fled the scene, crashed a vehicle near Oregon Drive and Thrasher Avenue, and was seen on surveillance footage leaving the crashed car. Blood found inside and outside the vehicle tied him to the incident. He was later arrested after seeking treatment at Doctor’s Medical Center. At the time of the killing Womack was on parole for a 2017 robbery and had been released from prison four months earlier.

Authorities charged Womack with murder, burglary, and a gun enhancement. He was convicted in April 2022 of murder during a residential burglary and of residential burglary with firearm enhancements, with sentencing scheduled for April 15, 2022. Does anyone have information about Lisandro, his brothers, or that neighborhood on Larkin Avenue that could shed light on what happened that night?