On a quiet Sunday morning, September 14, 2025, 20-year-old Hispanic Salvador De Jesus Castillo-Hernandez of Concord was discovered lying along the 2600 block of Monticello Road, the rural stretch of State Route 121 east of Napa. A passerby reported a man who wasn't moving and had blood on his clothing; deputies arrived within minutes and pronounced Salvador De Jesus Castillo-Hernandez dead at the scene. Detectives later confirmed he had been shot multiple times.
The roadway was shut down for hours as investigators combed the shoulder and adjacent ditch for evidence.
The Napa County Sheriff's Office opened a homicide investigation and asked the public for tips while the early facts were still thin. By the next day, detectives announced an arrest: 22-year-old Bryan Alexis De Paz Gomez of Vallejo was taken into custody in Napa around 2 p.m. and booked on suspicion of murder in the killing of Salvador De Jesus Castillo-Hernandez, age 20. He was held without bail as investigators continued to develop the case and declined to release a motive or the circumstances that preceded the shooting.
In the weeks that followed, prosecutors filed a murder charge against Bryan Gomez in Napa County Superior Court, detailing several special allegations tied to firearm use and the violent nature of the crime. Court records published by the District Attorney's Office note that Bryan Gomez, also known as Bryon Alexis Depaz-Gomez, pleaded not guilty and denied the special allegations; he remained in custody without bail pending further hearings. Napa County Deputy District Attorney Veronica Vo was assigned to prosecute the case.
Throughout the investigation, authorities emphasized the youth of the victim and the brazenness of a daylight shooting on a well-traveled county road. Tips were sought from anyone who might have seen vehicles stopped on Monticello Road that morning or heard gunfire in the Wooden Valley area, as detectives worked to reconstruct the final moments of Salvador De Jesus Castillo-Hernandez, age 20, and to determine why the encounter turned deadly.
