Juan Jose Diaz

Juan Jose Diaz, a 24-year-old Latino man, was an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer who had dreamed of the job since he was a child. Growing up in a Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood affected by gang activity, he was motivated to become a police officer who could make a positive difference. Friends and family remembered him as "the best kid," someone who was always smiling and could be counted on for anything. He had been with the LAPD for about two years and was assigned to the Special Operations Division.

In the early morning hours of July 27, 2019, Diaz was at a taco stand in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood with his girlfriend and her two brothers. Shortly after 1 a.m., Diaz noticed a man painting graffiti on a sidewalk and told him to stop. The man, who claimed allegiance to a local gang, became aggressive, told Diaz’s group they were in his territory, and lifted his shirt to reveal a handgun.

To avoid a violent confrontation, Diaz and his companions tried to leave, getting into their pickup truck to drive away. As they did, the gunman and another man ran alongside the truck. The gunman fired several rounds through the vehicle's rear window, striking Diaz and one of his girlfriend's brothers. The driver sped off and flagged down a nearby LAPD patrol car for help. Juan Jose Diaz was pronounced dead at the scene. His girlfriend’s brother was critically injured but survived.

The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division led an intensive investigation, discovering the shooting was part of a 90-minute crime spree. On August 2, 2019, police conducted raids in Riverside and Los Angeles counties, arresting three suspects: Cristian Facundo, 20; Francisco Talamantes III, 23; and Ashlynn Smith, 18.

Facundo and Talamantes were charged with capital murder, with a special circumstance allegation of murder by an active street gang member, as well as two counts of attempted murder. All three were also charged with shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and vandalism. In 2021, Francisco Talamantes pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and other charges and was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

The case concluded in July 2026, when a jury convicted Cristian Facundo of first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied motor vehicle, and vandalism. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder by an active member of a street gang. Facundo faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.