Anthony Victor Ochoa, 37, was shot and killed on the night of May 27, 2025, inside a marijuana dispensary in east Bakersfield. Deputies were called about 9:40 p.m. to the 1600 block of Flower Street; inside they found Ochoa and another man, 26-year-old Damien Joseph Bullard, both pronounced dead at the scene. The Kern County Coroner’s Office identified Ochoa and confirmed the date and location.

Detectives say four males entered the dispensary, followed by Ochoa and Bullard. A verbal argument reportedly escalated and several shots were fired. The assailants fled in a gold four-door sedan driven by a female, according to investigators who tracked movements around the storefront just off Virginia Street.

In the days after the killings authorities announced multiple arrests. Local reports and the Sheriff’s Office later named five suspects in custody in connection with the double homicide: Darwin Young, 20; Terrance Thompson, 18; Nancy Ruiz, 20; and two juveniles. Coverage noted Young had been paroled on May 21, 2025, and that Young and Ruiz pleaded not guilty as the case moved through court.

Were any readers in that neighborhood that night who saw the gold sedan or events near the dispensary?