Juan Manuel Vidal, a 25-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was working an evening shift at a Jack in the Box in the 9200 block of Flair Drive in El Monte on October 21, 2016. At about 7:30 p.m., Vidal and coworker Lessly Martinez were inside the restaurant when a masked gunman entered. The man wore a disguise with a fake mustache and unusual nose, along with a dark hat, khaki cargo shorts and black shoes. He jumped over the cashier counter, pointed a silver revolver at Vidal and demanded money. Within seconds, the gunman fired once into Vidal's chest and ran from the restaurant. Martinez escaped through a back door to get help, while manager Joselin Barrales rushed to the drive-through area, found Vidal on the floor and called 911. Vidal died from the single gunshot wound. The attempted robber fled without completing the robbery and climbed into a gray Lexus IS 300 waiting nearby.
The killing abruptly ended a period in Vidal's life in which he had been preparing to move beyond his fast-food job. He had recently completed training as a pharmacy technician and was engaged to be married. His family described the restaurant position as a transition job while he worked toward a new career. In the days after his death, relatives and investigators made public appeals for information, while detectives released surveillance footage showing the disguised attacker jumping the counter and fleeing after the shooting. Authorities eventually offered rewards totaling tens of thousands of dollars in an effort to identify the killer.
The public appeals produced important leads. Investigators received information from people familiar with Louie Francisco Herrera, who recognized similarities between Herrera and the gunman seen on surveillance footage, including his build, clothing and shoes. The investigation later developed considerably more evidence. Cellphone records placed Herrera's phone near the Jack in the Box shortly before the shooting and showed it moving north along the Interstate 10 and Interstate 605 corridor afterward. Detectives determined that the gray Lexus used in the getaway was registered to a family member of Frank Ledesma, one of Herrera's close friends. Witnesses also told investigators that Herrera had discussed the killing. Erika Rivera testified that Herrera admitted murdering a Jack in the Box employee during a robbery, said he had worn a disguise and used a. 357 revolver, and later reenacted the shooting during a secretly recorded conversation. Nathan Glover told investigators that Herrera had given him a revolver to dispose of and identified Herrera as the shooter when shown surveillance imagery.
Herrera was arrested for Vidal's murder on January 9, 2017, and prosecutors charged him two days later. The murder allegation included the special circumstance that the killing occurred during an attempted robbery, along with allegations that Herrera personally used and discharged a firearm. After his arrest, investigators continued publicly seeking the person believed to have driven the getaway vehicle. Contemporary reports described that accomplice as still at large. Later court records documented the investigative connection between the gray Lexus and people in Herrera's circle, but the publicly available sources reviewed do not establish that a second person was convicted for acting as the getaway driver in Vidal's killing.
The case ultimately went to a jury in June 2023. Prosecutors presented the surveillance recordings, cellphone evidence, witness testimony, Herrera's recorded statements and evidence connecting him to a series of earlier armed robberies. The jury found Herrera guilty of first-degree murder and found the robbery-murder special circumstance true, along with the firearm allegation tied to Vidal's death. He was also convicted of robbery and attempted-robbery offenses arising from an earlier crime spree. On September 12, 2023, Herrera was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Vidal's murder, with an additional consecutive term of 25 years to life for personally firing the gun that caused the death and another consecutive 24 years for the remaining offenses and enhancements.
Herrera appealed his convictions, arguing in part that the prosecution had committed misconduct involving the presentation of a recording of Vidal's mother's public plea for help and comments made during closing argument. He did not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence identifying him as the shooter. On March 27, 2025, the California Court of Appeal rejected his claims and affirmed the judgment, concluding that the evidence establishing Herrera's identity as Vidal's killer was compelling and that the challenged errors did not warrant reversal. Herrera therefore remained convicted and subject to the life-without-parole sentence imposed for the murder of Juan Manuel Vidal.
