Eladio Arrendando Estrada was a 59-year-old Hispanic/Latino male who worked long hours as a street vendor selling corn from a pushcart in north Phoenix, Arizona. He was well known in the neighborhood where he regularly parked his cart, described in news coverage and by relatives as a popular, hardworking family man who joked with customers and was widely recognized in the community.
Family members later told reporters that he was a father of four and grandfather to several children, remembered as cheerful, social, and devoted both to his work and to supporting his loved ones.
On the evening of Tuesday, April 25, 2017, Estrada set up his cart in the parking lot of an apartment complex or business near 16821 North 26th Street, close to 26th Street and Bell Road in north Phoenix. At about 8:30 p.m., he was in the middle of a sale, serving corn to a man standing at his cart, when another man approached. According to Phoenix police and Silent Witness case records, this second man was armed with a handgun and confronted Estrada in what investigators believe was an attempted robbery. Witness accounts and police summaries say the gunman pointed the weapon at Estrada and fired a first shot into the ground near his bicycle and cart. As Estrada tried to run from the confrontation, the gunman fired again, striking him and inflicting injuries that proved fatal. He was transported to a hospital but died shortly afterward from the gunshot wound.
Detectives determined that there were two suspects involved: the man who initially appeared to be a customer at the cart and the armed man who carried out the shooting. Both men fled the scene together, and investigators later said they believed they left in a dark-colored 1997 Dodge Stratus four-door sedan. Surveillance footage obtained from the area, later released to the public, showed Estrada interacting with one man before the armed suspect walked up, pointed the gun, and then fired as Estrada attempted to escape. Police described both individuals simply as male suspects and appealed for the public's help in identifying them.
In the weeks and years after the killing, Estrada's family repeatedly appeared in Spanish-language and local media, pleading with the community to come forward with any information that could identify the men responsible. They emphasized how little money the robbers appear to have been after and how senseless it was that his life was taken during what authorities consistently characterized as an armed robbery attempt for a small amount of cash. Silent Witness and news outlets publicized a reward of up to $1,000 for tips leading to an arrest or indictment, and the case was highlighted among Phoenix-area April cold cases that remained unsolved. As of the most recent public updates, including cold-case roundups and community-crime listings through 2025, there have been no publicly reported arrests or charges in connection with Estrada's death, and the two suspects remain unidentified in official records.
