On the evening of October 13, 2024, 53-year-old Oton Garcia Ruiz was shot and killed while sitting in his car at Shree’s Truck Stop in Seattle’s Highland Park neighborhood. He and his girlfriend, Maria Cervantes, had stopped to buy a drink after spending the day on Vashon Island. Cervantes heard four gunshots, ran out, and found Garcia Ruiz wounded in the vehicle; Seattle Fire Department personnel provided aid but he died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the torso.

The Seattle Police Department described the shooting as a reckless act, with multiple rounds fired into the crowded station, and said the slaying appeared random — Garcia Ruiz was not involved in a preceding fight at the gas station. Family and friends remembered him as kind, respectful, and passionate about the outdoors; he was the youngest of six siblings and had come to the United States to build a better life. Security images were released and, after public tips, a 26-year-old warehouse worker named Duran turned himself in on October 28 and was booked; on October 31 murder charges were filed.

Does anyone who knew Oton or who was at the station that night have information to share?