Juan Antonio Ruiz, 28, was shot and killed in Santa Cruz on July 28, 2020. He was a back-seat passenger in a Mercedes sedan traveling southbound on Mission Street when a second vehicle with tinted windows pulled alongside near Mission and Fair and a shot was fired through the rear passenger window, striking Ruiz in the head. He was taken to Dominican Hospital and died shortly after arrival.

The Santa Cruz Police Department treated the incident as a homicide and cordoned off the scene. Initial reports noted a possible exchange of words between occupants of the two vehicles and raised suspicions of a gang-related motive. A countywide alert was issued for the suspect vehicle, and two men were briefly detained in Soquel in a matching car.

On August 17, 2020, police announced arrests in connection with Ruiz’s killing: Sergio Alvarez-Lopez, 24, and Jonathan Dominguez-Martinez, 22, were charged with gang-related homicide and assault with a deadly weapon; Alvarez-Lopez faced an additional probation-violation charge. The community was asked to come forward with any information that could help the investigation. Has anyone in the area seen or heard anything about that day or the vehicles involved?