Ricardo Cardenas Leal, 33, was one of four men fatally shot on March 18, 2008, at Black Road Auto in Santa Maria while entering the business to buy parts for farming equipment. Born September 15, 1974, in Tepalcatepec, Michoacán, Mexico, he had immigrated around 1989, became a U.S. citizen in 2006, and lived in Santa Maria for about 19 years. He was president and general manager of Agromich Corporation, a licensed labor contractor who leased land and operated agricultural businesses, including about 35 acres of strawberries for Naturipe Farms and a vegetable transplanting operation employing seasonal workers.

Authorities arrested a 31-year-old Santa Maria man, Lee Isaac Bedwell Leeds, and charged him with four counts of murder; motive remained unclear, and several witnesses were among the deceased. Leeds’s family said he had paranoid schizophrenia and had recently changed medications, but police did not comment on any mental health connection.