Ricardo Lopez-Cruz, 29, was shot dead just after 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2024 in the parking lot of La Leyenda nightclub on Portland Road NE in Salem, Oregon. Salem patrol officers who responded found Lopez-Cruz deceased from a gunshot wound.

Detectives quickly developed suspects. A 34-year-old Woodburn resident, Guadalupe Ortiz Cervantes, was arrested January 2 on charges of hindering prosecution for allegedly helping the suspected shooter evade police. The main suspect, 36-year-old Julio Cesar Sanchez-Sanchez of Salem, turned himself in to the Roseburg Police Department on January 3 and was transferred to the Marion County Jail facing charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Court material reported a fraught background: Lopez-Cruz had a prior conviction for attempted first-degree sexual abuse against a young relative of Sanchez-Sanchez and had served about a year and a half in prison. After his release he allegedly followed and harassed Sanchez-Sanchez, including an incident where security footage showed Lopez-Cruz gesturing and yelling at Sanchez-Sanchez as Lopez-Cruz left in an Uber; Sanchez-Sanchez then returned in his truck and shot him. Anyone with information about Lopez-Cruz, his movements that night, or witnesses to the incident is asked to come forward.