Jaime Tadeo-Avila, a 50-year-old Hispanic man remembered as a kind and hardworking drywall repairman, was killed in a sudden act of violence that erupted from a minor traffic incident. The fatal encounter happened in a busy gas station parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, while his young son was in the vehicle with him.
On the afternoon of Friday, June 11, 2021, Tadeo-Avila was driving through the crowded lot of the Circle K at 1555 W. Valencia Road.
Just before 4:30 p.m., his vehicle and another car, driven by Lazaro Enrique Villa Jr., were involved in a near-collision. Following the near-miss, Villa parked his vehicle next to Tadeo-Avila's. In a sudden escalation of what authorities described as a road-rage incident, Villa fired a gun multiple times, striking Tadeo-Avila.
Tucson police officers arrived to find Tadeo-Avila with obvious gunshot wounds and immediately began rendering first aid. The Tucson Fire Department took over lifesaving efforts, but despite their work, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Tadeo-Avila’s son sustained minor injuries during the shooting and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Shortly after the shooting, Lazaro Enrique Villa Jr. contacted 911 to surrender. With assistance from the Tucson Police Department's SWAT team, he was taken into custody without incident. Villa was arrested and booked into the Pima County Jail on charges including first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In May 2023, a jury found Lazaro Enrique Villa Jr. guilty of first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. For the murder of Jaime Tadeo-Avila, he was sentenced to natural life in prison. He also received concurrent sentences of 21 years for the drive-by shooting and 15 years for the aggravated assault.
