On July 1, 2017, Nereida Villanueva was shot and killed in her Whittier, California, apartment during a custody exchange. Her ex-husband, Efrem Ruben Lozoya, arrived to drop off their daughter and was let into the unit by the couple’s son. After entering, Lozoya shot Villanueva and her boyfriend; Villanueva died at the scene and the boyfriend was left paralyzed. The couple’s children were present during the shooting and ran to a neighbor’s home for safety.

Lozoya fled after the attack and later surrendered to authorities. He was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder, with additional allegations of intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and death. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau investigated the case.

The killing profoundly affected Villanueva’s children and family. If anyone knew Nereida, her family, or was in that Whittier neighborhood on July 1, 2017, any information could help complete the record of what happened that day?