Marcos Armando Nino was a happy, outgoing, and positive young man who was known for his smile. According to his family, the 22-year-old Hispanic/Latino father of three never gave up, no matter how hard things got. He is survived by his son, two daughters, his parents, and his siblings.
On the afternoon of Friday, October 7, 2022, Marcos’s life was cut short in what police believe was a road-rage shooting. Around 2:00 p.m. in Tucson, Arizona, Marcos was driving his gold Jeep near the intersection of East Benson Highway and South Sixth Avenue. According to investigators, Marcos cut off a dark burgundy Kia Sorrento, which angered the front-seat passenger in the Kia. The passenger’s girlfriend, who was driving, told police he began hanging out of the vehicle and yelling at Marcos. A security guard at a nearby Circle K heard two or three gunshots.
When police were called to the scene, they found Marcos inside his Jeep, which had crashed into a guardrail.
He had suffered a gunshot wound to his head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Homicide detectives began an investigation into what they determined was a mobile confrontation between two drivers who did not know each other.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video from a local business that captured the Kia next to Marcos’s Jeep as they traveled north on Sixth Avenue. The footage reportedly showed the front-seat passenger of the Kia hanging out the window with a firearm in his hand. Cartridge casings were recovered from the area where the Kia had been at the time of the shooting.
Less than a month later, on November 1, 2022, Tucson police located the Kia Sorrento and conducted a traffic stop. The passenger was identified as 29-year-old Robert Anthony Vasquez. Officers saw him with a handgun, and a search of the vehicle uncovered a firearm under his seat. The gun’s caliber was the same as the one used to kill Marcos. Vasquez reportedly told police he did not shoot but only had to “show the driver his gun.” He refused to conduct an interview with detectives.
Robert Anthony Vasquez was arrested and booked into the Pima County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and weapons misconduct, as well as numerous outstanding warrants. He was held on a bond of over $1 million. As of his arrest in November 2022, the criminal case against him was pending.
Anyone with information on the death of Marcos Nino is asked to call 88-CRIME, where callers can remain anonymous.
