Xavier Mendoza was 20 when he was fatally shot on September 1, 2020, while sitting in a car outside the Ingalls Park Liquor Store in Joliet, Illinois. Known to family and friends as Zay-Zay and X-Man, he was a lifelong Joliet resident who attended Gompers Junior High and Joliet Central High School. Mendoza was described as kind and gentle, bilingual, and proud of his Hispanic roots.

The shooting occurred around 8:40 p.m. Mendoza was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, 29-year-old Zachary Stohr of New Lenox, was shot in the back, stumbled into the liquor store and later died at Silver Cross Hospital. Mendoza’s mother, Gina Desmond, has publicly pushed for action and has named a Joliet man she believes was involved, but detectives have dismissed that lead.

Anyone who knew Xavier, Zachary, or who was in the area that evening and has information is asked to come forward.