Mimi Barraza

Do you know who murdered Mimi?
Mimi Barraza was a bright and ambitious young woman with a future full of promise. A former winner of the “Miss Teen San Diego” beauty contest, the 21-year-old was a doting mother to her two-year-old daughter, Bri. Her mother, Benita Perez, remembered her for her "beautiful smile, beautiful personality," and said that "everything that she did, she did with love." Mimi was attending college and had aspirations of going on to law school. She had just celebrated her 21st birthday two days before her life was violently cut short.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 4, 1993, Mimi was standing and talking with a group of friends outside a home in the 1600 block of South 39th Street in San Diego. Suddenly, a white Chevrolet Astro van pulled up to the corner. Without warning, occupants inside the van opened fire on the group. The barrage of gunfire came from several different caliber weapons, including an assault rifle. One of Mimi’s friends was shot in the leg. Mimi was struck in the head by a bullet from the assault rifle and died at the scene.

The van sped away immediately after the shooting. Several hours later that morning, police located the vehicle abandoned at the intersection of 19th and G streets. An investigation revealed the van had been reported stolen the previous day. Crime scene investigators recovered shell casings from multiple types of weapons at the site of the shooting and inside the abandoned van, confirming the chaotic and indiscriminate nature of the attack. The San Diego Police Department launched a homicide investigation, which would soon expand as connections to other violent crimes emerged.

Detectives discovered that Mimi's murder was part of a wider spasm of violence that occurred around the same time. In both San Diego and nearby National City, several other shootings were carried out with the same type of assault rifle. In the National City attacks, nine people were wounded. In another San Diego shooting, which took place in the 3800 block of Delta Street, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed. Investigators believe it is possible that these cases are all related.

Police have stated that the suspects in all of these shootings are believed to be Hispanic males affiliated with a street gang from the Logan Heights neighborhood. One report from a former drug investigator indicated that a 17-year-old gang member named Hector Villegas was arrested in 1993 in possession of an AK-47 that had been used in Mimi’s murder. Despite this, no one has ever been charged or convicted for killing Mimi Barraza.

More than three decades have passed, but Mimi's family has never given up hope for justice. The loss has been a constant source of pain. "I want justice. They need to pay; they need to pay for what they did," her mother said in 2025. "They took away an innocent child that hardly ever got to bloom." She pleaded with the public for help, urging anyone with information to come forward. "Know something, see something, say something. Help us," Perez said. "Help the loved ones that need the justice for our family, for someone that you love."

As of September 2025, the murder of Mimi Barraza remains an unsolved cold case. The San Diego Police Department’s Cold Case Unit continues to seek information from the public that could help identify and locate the people responsible for her death. San Diego County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is urged to call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293. To remain anonymous, tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.