On June 29, 2019, 25-year-old Marilynn Patricia Pacheco was shot and killed while a passenger in a vehicle traveling northbound on Interstate 19 near Green Valley. Another car pulled alongside and opened fire; the gunfire struck Pacheco, a 29-year-old man and a 3-year-old girl who were in the same vehicle. All three were taken to a nearby hospital; Pacheco was pronounced dead at Banner University Medical Center, while the man and child were treated and later released.

Investigators determined the shooting was not random. Court records say 21-year-old Mateo Dina Zavala of Santa Ana, California, followed the vehicle after seeing the occupants leave a family member’s home and had been arguing by phone with one of the victims moments before shots were fired. A Border Patrol agent arrived first, and Zavala identified himself as the shooter and surrendered without incident. He was booked into the Pima County Sheriff’s Office Jail on multiple charges including first-degree homicide, aggravated assault, endangerment and a count of drive-by shooting.

If anyone knew Marilynn, her movements that afternoon, or saw the vehicles on Interstate 19, please share what might help investigators.