Ernesto Garcia Cruz, 27, was shot and killed on June 5, 2018, around 8 p.m. while sitting in his car in the parking lot of El Dorado Park in Salinas, California. Police said a male suspect approached and fired multiple times; Cruz reportedly did not appear to have gang affiliations and the motive was initially unclear.

Investigators say Alexandra Romayor, 19, lured Cruz to the parking lot and that her boyfriend, Santos Fonseca, was the shooter. Police testimony described a personal motive tied to Romayor and Cruz having been intimate before she met Fonseca, and that Fonseca wanted to prove his loyalty to a gang leader.

Romayor was charged with second-degree murder, pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to 15 years to life. She was also convicted as an accessory after the fact and on a gun charge in the June 2, 2018, killing of Lorenzo Gomez Acosta and received an additional two years and eight months. Fonseca was sentenced to 150 years to life; he escaped jail in November 2019 and was recaptured a few days later while trying to cross into the United States from Mexico, an escape that added nearly three years to his sentence. Cruz’s family described the deep sorrow and disruption his death caused to loved ones.

Did anyone know Ernesto or have information about his movements the evening of June 5, 2018?