Alfredo Antonio Carrera, a 24-year-old Latino, was fatally shot on August 14, 2019, in the Florence-Firestone area of South Los Angeles. Carrera, who was about to become a first-time father, was standing in his driveway around 7 p.m., talking to his childhood friend, Jose Antonio Flores Velazquez, a 24-year-old doctoral student in astrophysics at UC Irvine. Flores Velazquez had returned to his old neighborhood to drop off a gift for Carrera's upcoming baby shower. As the two friends conversed, a dark-colored sedan approached, and someone inside began shooting. Both Carrera and Flores Velazquez were struck by gunfire, along with a third man nearby who was strapping his baby into a car seat. The third man survived, but Carrera and Flores Velazquez were not as fortunate. Carrera was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:57 p.m., while Flores Velazquez died at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that witnesses saw at least two people in the sedan and heard yelling before the gunfire. Surveillance video and witness accounts helped identify the vehicle as a blue 2004 Nissan Maxima with significant body damage. On August 16, 2019, Santa Clarita deputies spotted the car and arrested Jonathan Charles Johnson, a 27-year-old man from Lancaster. Johnson was charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and shooting from a motor vehicle. The charges included special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder to further the activities of a criminal street gang, along with allegations that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm. Johnson was held without bail while awaiting arraignment.
The case against Johnson highlighted the tragic loss of two promising young men. Flores Velazquez was a rising star in the field of astrophysics, with aspirations of working at NASA, while Carrera had postponed his studies to become a state safety inspector and prepare for the birth of his son. The community mourned the senseless violence that claimed their lives and disrupted the lives of their families. Investigators continued to seek additional suspects and urged the public to come forward with any information related to the crime.
