Juan Ceballos, a 20-year-old college student from Mecca, California, was shot and killed on July 13, 2014, outside his apartment on Dale Kiler Road. He had just parked and was texting his younger brother, Sergio, to come outside when he was shot multiple times; Sergio heard the gunshots and found Juan already dead.

Investigators quickly identified coworker Miguel Angel Bautista Ramirez of Pizza Hut as the primary suspect; Ramirez was arrested the same day. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said the motive was bias against Ceballos’s sexual orientation. Ramirez was charged with murder, a hate crime, and a special-circumstance lying-in-wait allegation, and pleaded not guilty at his initial appearance.

Ceballos’s family described him as hardworking and caring, supporting his relatives while attending College of the Desert. The case raises questions about bias-motivated violence and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Does anyone who knew Juan or who was in Mecca that day have information that could shed more light on what happened?