On the night of April 27, 2025, 22-year-old Hispanic woman Samantha Fernandez was fatally shot in the parking lot of The Jordan at Mueller Apartments on Philomena Street in East Austin. Austin 911 received multiple calls about gunfire at approximately 10:16 p.m.; officers found Fernandez unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound and she was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:42 p.m.

Investigators say a pickup truck pulled into the complex’s parking lot and Fernandez came down to meet its occupants. Moments later one of the people in the vehicle, identified as 22-year-old Hispanic man Gonzalo Mendoza-Gonzalez, fired the fatal shot and the truck fled. Authorities tracked the vehicle to Kerrville, Texas, where it had broken down; Mendoza-Gonzalez was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder.

This was listed as Austin’s 21st homicide of 2025. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Austin Police Department or submit an anonymous tip through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program. Anyone who knew Samantha or witnessed the events that night is asked to come forward.