A minor collision in a Glendale Walmart parking lot turned deadly on August 14, 2021. Surveillance video shows Baseme Mirindi John, 30, striking a parked car near 55th and Northern avenues; a man and a woman from the struck vehicle approached John’s car, and John’s vehicle reversed into theirs a second time. As John attempted to drive away, the man was seen firing a gun toward John’s vehicle.

John, a Black/African American male, was found in his car with gunshot wounds to the torso and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators identified the suspect vehicle by license plate from the footage and linked it to 32-year-old Sammy Mendoza of Tolleson. Mendoza’s appearance matched the shooter on video; after arrest he allegedly confessed to firing the gun, saying he intended to intimidate and did not know the shots had struck John. Mendoza was booked on one count of second-degree murder.