On December 9, 2023, at about 2:18 a.m. officers responding to reports of gunfire and a vehicle collision in the 300 block of Barnes Road found a car that had struck several parked vehicles. Inside were 20-year-old Jahir Jimenez-Laredo and 21-year-old Mitzi Saldana-Clemente, both dead of apparent gunshot wounds. The Winston-Salem Police Criminal Investigations Division opened an investigation.

By 5:30 a.m. officers located 18-year-old Ryan Anguiano Prudente walking along U.S. 52 with two juveniles; a third juvenile was found hiding nearby. Evidence collected at the scene linked those individuals to the double homicide. Prudente was arrested and charged with two counts of general murder and held without bond; three juveniles were also charged. In the days before the killings Prudente had been arrested on multiple felony drug charges, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction, and had been released on a $50,000 bond — a point the police chief highlighted when discussing bond guidelines.

These deaths were reported as the city’s 45th and 46th homicides for 2023. Authorities ask anyone with information to contact the Winston-Salem Police Department or Crime Stoppers. If anyone knew Jahir Jimenez-Laredo or has information that could help the investigation, please come forward.