Benjamin Alexander Bernal, a 36-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was shot to death inside a residence on the 200 block of Philippine Street in Taft, California, in the predawn hours of September 15, 2025. Deputies from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office arrived about 3:50 a.m. and found him dead. The coroner ruled the cause of death gunshot wounds to the head and chest and the manner of death homicide.

A woman told deputies she had been asleep next to Bernal when she woke to find a man standing over them with a flashlight and a handgun; she recounted seeing four muzzle flashes and said she recognized the intruder as her estranged husband. Dispatchers had taken a call from a man who confessed he had just shot and killed someone. Deputies arrested 34-year-old Nahaman Bucato outside the home; he was booked and charged with first-degree murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, with a court hearing set for September 29, 2025.

If anyone in Taft has information about what happened that morning or knew Benjamin Bernal, please share what is known with investigators.