On the evening of March 21, 2025, a drive-by shooting on the 500 block of Loop Drive in Moses Lake, Washington, left 14-year-old Mario Amezcua Santoyo dead. Gunfire from a passing vehicle struck a car occupied by five people around 9 p.m.; Mario sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The four other occupants—a 26-year-old woman, two 17-year-olds and a 13-year-old—were hospitalized with injuries and later released.

A 14-year-old male from Mattawa was arrested on March 24 at Kadlec Regional Medical Center while being treated for a self-inflicted, non-life-threatening leg wound and was charged with first-degree murder and multiple counts of assault. Two additional suspects, 20-year-old Jose Beltran-Rodriguez and 18-year-old Matthew Valdez, were later identified and charged with first-degree murder, multiple counts of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and felon in possession of a firearm.

Authorities have described the shooting as gang-related and say all three suspects are believed to have Norteños affiliations, while the victims, including Mario, were not gang-affiliated. A multi-agency manhunt and subsequent arrests brought Valdez into custody in Beaverton, Oregon, and Beltran-Rodriguez in Redding, California; investigations and federal prosecutions are ongoing. If anyone knew Mario or has information about the shooting, please come forward to authorities.