On the night of May 5, 2020, Blake Medeiros, a 19-year-old man, was killed alongside his friends Isaiah Rule, 18, and Jose Hernandez-Peña, 19, in Visalia, California. Police responded to reports of shots fired at around 11:15 p.m. and discovered the three young men in the parking lot of Golden West High School. All had died from gunshot wounds. Two of the victims were found inside a vehicle, and the third was a short distance away.
The loss devastated their families. Blake's mother, Ashley Williams, later said she lost a piece of herself when her son was killed. "As a mother they are a part of you," she shared, "so you don't just physically feel like you're dying, it is mentally, it is spiritually, it is everything." Isaiah's mother, Nikkole Rule Balderama, recalled her son's last words to her before he left home that evening. "My son said, 'Mom, I'm going to go get tacos and I'll be right back' and I'm waiting for him to walk through that door," she said.
"I don't know how to accept that he is gone." On the one-year anniversary of the killings, family and friends gathered at the site to support one another and hope for justice.
The Visalia Police Department launched an extensive investigation into what was the city's first triple-homicide in its known history. Surveillance video from the school showed a light-colored, four-door car drive up to the victims' vehicle before someone inside opened fire. Two suspects were seen running from the scene while two others drove away in the car. As the investigation continued, rewards were offered for information, eventually reaching $50,000.
The case was part of a larger multiagency investigation into a violent gang involved in trafficking firearms and drugs from California to Texas and Mexico. In January 2022, authorities announced a breakthrough. They arrested three suspects in connection with the murders: 20-year-old Mark Aceves, 19-year-old Cesar Lopez, and 20-year-old Abraham Molina. All three were identified as known gang members from the Visalia and Ivanhoe areas.
The three men were charged with the murders of Blake Medeiros, Isaiah Rule, and Jose Hernandez-Peña. Later that month, Abraham Molina entered a plea of not guilty. As of January 2022, Mark Aceves and Cesar Lopez were awaiting their arraignments.
