Itzel Espinoza was a 17-year-old Hispanic/Latina high school student from Phoenix who dreamed of a career in modeling or as a social media influencer. She left home on the night of July 1, 2021, to go out with friends; when she did not return and her phone and social accounts went silent, her parents reported her missing on July 2. She would have turned 18 in September 2021.

In the early morning of July 3 a caller reported a person seated inside a car in an alley near 35th Avenue and Southern who appeared to have been shot. Responding officers found Itzel in the passenger seat of a Lexus that did not belong to her; she had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators say witnesses reported an argument and physical fight between Itzel and another teenager, Lindsey Brianna Aguilar, after which Itzel ran to the Lexus and locked herself inside. Aguilar allegedly asked a friend for a gun and fired into the car.

Within weeks police identified three people in connection. On July 16, 19-year-old Jesus J. Valle Padilla was arrested, and a 16-year-old boy was booked on a charge related to abandonment of a body. Police issued a felony warrant for Aguilar on a murder charge; she remains at large. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.