On the evening of May 14, 2026, 42-year-old Sandra Rodriguez, a mother of three, was walking to her car after finishing her shift at a new job at a nonprofit organization in Tustin, California. Her life was abruptly and violently cut short when she was gunned down near the intersection of Yorba Street and Medford Avenue. Witnesses reported hearing several gunshots and seeing a man in dark clothing fleeing the scene in a dark-colored sedan.
When first responders arrived, they found Sandra Rodriguez unresponsive and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The news of her sudden death sent shockwaves through her family and her new colleagues, who remembered her as a woman excited about her new position and already making a positive impact. She left behind three children, the youngest being only five years old. Tragically, her eldest child was to celebrate their 22nd birthday the day after her murder.
The investigation into Sandra’s death quickly focused on her 47-year-old ex-boyfriend, Juan Marquez of Hawthorne. Tustin Police detectives determined that Marquez had laid in wait for Rodriguez near her workplace and ambushed her as she was leaving. After the fatal shooting, Marquez fled the country, crossing the border into Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in an attempt to evade capture. Investigators worked swiftly to identify him as the primary suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest on the charge of murder.
Just two days after the killing, on May 16, 2026, Juan Marquez was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he attempted to re-enter the United States. He was taken into custody by Tustin Police detectives and booked into the Orange County Jail, where he is being held without bail on a murder charge. Due to the evidence suggesting he laid in wait for his victim, prosecutors can pursue a first-degree murder charge, which carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison, or even life without the possibility of parole. The case against Marquez is a somber reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, leaving a family to grieve the senseless loss of a loving mother. The swift arrest of the suspect brought a small measure of relief to a community shaken by the tragedy, as the legal process to bring him to justice began.
