On a spring afternoon in Nogales, Arizona, the life of 44-year-old Jesus Cordova was cut short in a violent encounter. It was Friday, April 27, 2018, when Officer Cordova, a one-year veteran of the Nogales Police Department and a ten-year veteran of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, responded to a report of an armed carjacking. The call came in around 2:41 p.m., sending him to the 2900 block of North Grand Avenue.
There, he located the suspect who was attempting to flee in a stolen vehicle.
As Cordova tried to initiate a traffic stop, the suspect, later identified as 28-year-old David Ernesto Murillo of Tempe, Arizona, exited the car and opened fire on the officer. Cordova was struck by the gunfire and critically wounded. The gunman then fled the scene, carjacking a second and then a third vehicle in his attempt to escape. Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies pursued the suspect, eventually locating him in a trailer park where he was taken into custody.
Officer Jesus Cordova was airlifted to a hospital in Tucson, but he succumbed to his injuries. He left behind a wife who was pregnant at the time of his death, and three other children. David Ernesto Murillo was charged with first-degree murder and a litany of other offenses. He ultimately pleaded guilty to 39 charges and in September 2019, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
