Kayla Quintero, 29, was shot and killed at the South Lubbock home she shared with her boyfriend on the 700 block of 79th Street on the night of March 11, 2020. Lubbock police responded about 10:40 p.m. to reports of shots fired; emergency personnel found Kayla unresponsive with a gunshot wound and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators tied the shooting to a domestic dispute between Kayla and her boyfriend, Jason Mercado, who was accused in a police report of also threatening a neighbor with the firearm after the shooting. Mercado was arrested the next day and initially booked on a murder charge; a grand jury indicted him in June 2020.

The case later moved through the court system. In October 2024 Mercado pleaded guilty to the lesser-included offense of manslaughter and received a sentence of 10 years probation. Did anyone in Lubbock know Kayla or have information about her final hours?