Tyler William Russell, a 24-year-old White man, was killed in Bakersfield, California, on the morning of May 13, 2021. Kern County sheriff’s deputies responded to the 500 block of Acacia Avenue, near Linden Avenue and not far from Panorama Park, after reports of gunfire. Russell was found lying in an alley between homes with gunshot wounds to his chest and was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, Kendrick Donnell Watson, was also wounded in the shooting but survived.
Russell’s family said he had lived in Bakersfield for about two years after growing up in the Reno, Nevada, area, where much of his family remained.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting became considerably clearer during a preliminary hearing nearly two years later. According to testimony, the trouble began at approximately 7:21 that morning when Watson arrived at a residence on Acacia Avenue occupied by relatives of Aron Flores Jr. Investigators testified that Watson entered the house and allegedly assaulted a woman and possibly Flores’ father. The woman was the mother of Watson’s children and, according to deputies, was involved in a relationship with Flores’ father. Watson was told to leave, and Aron Flores later told investigators that Watson threatened to return and shoot at the residence.
After Watson left, investigators said Aron Flores drove to the home of his cousin, Arthur Amir Flores, picked him up and returned with him to Acacia Avenue. Testimony and surveillance footage indicated that both cousins went onto the roof of the residence facing the alley. Aron later climbed back down while Arthur remained on the roof. At about 8:29 a.m., a white van entered the alley and stopped. Watson and Russell got out. Watson walked toward the property and disappeared from the camera’s view, while Russell remained near a gate and appeared to be smoking a cigarette. Aron Flores then drove down the alley, passed Russell and apparently said something to him before parking nearby.
Gunfire erupted moments later. Surveillance footage showed Russell initially raising his hands before running toward the van and climbing inside. A bullet struck the van’s windshield. Russell got back out, moved toward the front of the vehicle, doubled over and then tried to run west through the alley. He collapsed out of the camera’s view and died from his wounds. A witness told investigators that after hearing the shots, they looked outside and saw someone firing from the roof. Investigators testified that five shots had been fired and that. 40-caliber shell casings were recovered from the rooftop. Watson was also struck during the attack but managed to leave the immediate area and survived.
Investigators alleged that Aron and Arthur Flores left together after the shooting, went to another residence and changed their clothes. Testimony indicated that an aunt then drove them to Los Angeles. Aron told investigators that he had not realized Arthur was armed until the two were already on the roof. Prosecutors disputed the implication that Aron was merely an uninvolved bystander, arguing that his actions before and after the shooting supported an allegation that he had participated in a plan to confront Watson and Russell. Aron Flores was eventually arrested in Los Angeles in February 2022. Arthur Flores remained a fugitive as of the April 2023 preliminary hearing.
Aron Flores was charged with first-degree murder in Russell’s death, as well as attempted murder and assault with a firearm in connection with the attack on Watson. Prosecutors alleged that he aided and abetted the shooting and conspired with Arthur Flores, rather than personally firing the fatal shots. In April 2023, Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael G. Bush ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to require Aron Flores to stand trial. His bail, which had previously been denied, was reduced to $200,000. Prosecutors also announced that they would not seek the death penalty; if convicted of the charged first-degree murder under the prosecution’s theory, Flores faced the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. His defense attorney argued that the surveillance evidence demonstrated Aron was not the shooter and maintained that, at most, the evidence might support an allegation that he was an accessory after the fact.
The case therefore developed from an initially unsolved alley shooting into a prosecution centered on the two Flores cousins, with Arthur identified in the evidence as the cousin who remained on the rooftop while Aron was below when the shots were fired. Russell’s killing is also listed by Kern County among the county’s victims of violent crime for 2021. Reliable public reporting located for this synopsis did not establish a completed trial, verdict, or conviction following the 2023 proceedings, so the criminal allegations against the defendants should not be treated as findings of guilt unless and until resolved in court.
