Rogelio Rodriguez, a 66-year-old Hispanic/Latino man who was born in Yakima, Washington, was killed on the morning of Saturday, June 14, 2025. A quiet residential neighborhood was disrupted around 9:15 a.m. when a 9-1-1 caller reported a shooting in the 1200 block of Pleasant Avenue. When police arrived, they discovered Rogelio Rodriguez in a backyard adjacent to where he had been living.
He had been shot multiple times.
First responders, including police officers and paramedics, performed CPR, but Rodriguez’s injuries were fatal. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted by the Yakima County Coroner later confirmed that he died from multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was officially ruled a homicide.
The investigation moved quickly. A neighbor told police about a suspicious man they had seen walking in the area shortly after hearing gunshots. Officers soon located a man who fit the description, 38-year-old Lorenzo Medina-Mejia. When they detained him, they discovered a .22-caliber handgun in his possession. Investigators at the scene of the shooting found shell casings of the same caliber.
It was determined that Rodriguez had been living on the same property as Medina-Mejia, though in a separate structure. Yakima County prosecutors charged Medina-Mejia with first- and second-degree murder. The more serious first-degree charge alleged that the shooting was a premeditated act. He was booked into the Yakima County jail and held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
The case concluded the following year. On March 23, 2026, Lorenzo Medina-Mejia appeared in Yakima County Superior Court and pleaded guilty to the charge of second-degree murder for the death of Rogelio Rodriguez.
