In the quiet, early morning hours of May 30, 2009, the life of Raul "Junior" Flores, Jr., a 29-year-old husband and father, was brutally cut short in his Arivaca, Arizona, home. In a desperate act of love and protection, he died trying to shield his family from a violent home invasion, a tragedy that would also claim the life of his young daughter and leave his wife grievously wounded.
The assailants, driven by a twisted ideology and greed, shattered the peace of the Flores family and their small desert community, located just ten miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
That night, Raul, his wife Gina Gonzalez, and their 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia Ylianna Flores, were asleep in their home. Their other daughter, then 12, was fortunately spending the night with her grandmother. Just after 1 a.m., a loud banging on the door woke the couple. At the door were intruders dressed in camouflage, falsely claiming to be law enforcement officials searching for fugitives. When Raul questioned their identity, the confrontation turned deadly. One of the men, later identified as Jason Eugene Bush, told him, "Don't take this personal, but this bullet has your name on it," before shooting him in the chest.
The gunman then turned his weapon on Gina, shooting her in the shoulder and leg. As she lay on the floor pretending to be dead, she witnessed the horrific murder of her husband. The commotion woke young Brisenia, who was sleeping on the living room couch. Awakened to a nightmare, the third-grader sobbed, asking the intruders why they had shot her parents. Her pleas for her own life—"Please don't shoot me"—were ignored as Bush reloaded and shot her twice in the face at point-blank range.
After the intruders ransacked the house for money and drugs to fund their vigilante operations and fled with some inexpensive jewelry, a wounded Gina Gonzalez managed to call 911. In a chilling recording of the call, she is heard telling the operator, "They shot me and I pretended like I was dead. My daughter was crying. They shot her, too." When the attackers unexpectedly re-entered the house, the call captured the sound of gunfire. Armed with her husband's handgun, Gina exchanged shots with the intruders, wounding Bush in the leg before they fled for good. This act of courage would prove crucial in their capture.
The investigation swiftly led police to the perpetrators: Shawna Forde, the 41-year-old leader of a vigilante nativist group called Minutemen American Defense (MAD); Jason Eugene Bush, 34, the group's "national director of operations"; and Albert Gaxiola, 42, a local man. The motive behind the brutal invasion was to steal money and drugs they believed Raul Flores, a man with a prior history of drug offenses, kept in his home. The funds were intended to finance Forde's anti-immigrant organization. Despite their violent efforts, they found no drugs and little of value. Forde was later found in possession of Gina's wedding ring.
All three were arrested and faced justice for their heinous crimes. The trials brought to light the cold, calculated nature of the attack, planned for months by Forde. Gina Gonzalez's powerful testimony, recounting the final moments of her husband and daughter's lives, was a key element of the prosecution's case. In 2011, juries convicted all three. Shawna Forde and Jason Eugene Bush, the triggerman and a suspected serial killer, were sentenced to death. Bush also received an additional 78 years for the attempted murder of Gina Gonzalez. Albert Gaxiola was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The convictions and death sentences have been upheld on appeal.
