In the quiet of a Tucson evening on March 8, 2018, a tragedy unfolded that would cut short the life of 18-year-old Yocelyn Ozuna Ortega. Responding to a call just before 10:00 p.m., police officers made a grim discovery at a residence on the 400 block of East Teton Road. Inside the home, they found Yocelyn, who had suffered apparent gunshot trauma and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The investigation quickly focused on her 27-year-old boyfriend, Jose Islas-Garcia, with whom she lived at the residence.
Detectives learned that the couple had been arguing earlier that day, and there was a history of domestic violence in their home. The alarm was raised by Jose's mother, who lived next door. After seeing her son leave the shared residence alone, she went to check on Yocelyn and found her unresponsive in a bedroom. As investigators collected evidence and conducted interviews, they identified Jose Islas-Garcia as the primary suspect and obtained a felony arrest warrant for him on a charge of first-degree murder.
Following the incident, authorities believed that Islas-Garcia had fled to Mexico. However, in a surprising turn of events, he surrendered himself to authorities at the border early the next morning. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail. The investigation into the death of Yocelyn Ozuna Ortega continued, leaving a community to mourn the loss of a young life.
