On the night of April 19, 2024, 38-year-old Margarita Maggie Lopez was fatally shot on Pearl Street in east Bakersfield around 10:44 p.m. Deputies found Lopez with gunshot wounds; she was taken to Kern Medical and pronounced dead. Witnesses, including Lopez’s sister Sandy Camarena, said the shooter was Lopez’s brother-in-law, 36-year-old Paul Magallanes. Camarena said Magallanes confronted Lopez, used racial slurs, assaulted her and then fired the weapon that killed her.

Magallanes, a teacher in the Alternative Education program for the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder but was released when the Kern County District Attorney’s Office said evidence was insufficient and requested further investigation. The family has repeatedly appealed to local authorities and the community for accountability. About three months after the shooting the Kern County Sheriff’s Office resubmitted the case to the District Attorney recommending murder charges; the case remains under review and no formal charges have been filed. The school district placed Magallanes on administrative leave.

If anyone knew Margarita Lopez or observed activity on Pearl Street that night, please share what might help the investigation.