On November 30, 2019, Carlos Osuna-Apodaca was found unresponsive in his Mesa apartment near Mesa Drive and Broadway Road with gunshot wounds to his head and neck after a witness inside the residence heard two shots and opened a bedroom door. A man identified as Daniel Villalobos-Espinoza was observed in the apartment holding a handgun and told the witness to mind his own business.

Investigators focused on Daniel and his brother Jesus. Jesus said he had been at the apartment, stepped outside to smoke when he heard the shots, fled, and later reported that Daniel confessed to the killing. Daniel at first denied involvement but then told police he had shot Osuna-Apodaca, saying he believed the victim had been ordered by a cartel to kill him because Daniel had walked away from serving as a desert spotter; the gun used was recovered from Daniel’s home. Daniel Villalobos-Espinoza was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

If anyone knew Carlos, his movements that night, or has information about the relationship between him and the Villalobos-Espinoza brothers, please come forward.