On the morning of Saturday, July 25, 2026, 30-year-old Raymundo Cruz Jr. was shot and killed after an altercation that began inside the El Diamante nightclub on U.S. Highway 92 in Plant City and continued into the street. Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office found Cruz lying in the roadway at the intersection of Charlie Taylor Road and East U.S. Highway 92; he sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 2 a.m. The person who fired the weapon remained at the location and was reported to be cooperating with detectives as they opened a homicide investigation.

Raymundo, known to family as Jr or Ray, was a father to two sons, Rolando and Ray, and is survived by his parents Maria Ramones and Francisco Pecina, sibling Myra Pecina, and step-siblings Francisco and Esmeraldo. As of late July 2026 it was unclear whether charges would be filed; investigators have asked anyone with information to come forward.

Did anyone in the Plant City area see or hear anything that night that could help investigators?