In the early hours of New Year's Day 2024, the life of 29-year-old Hispanic male Ricardo Lopez-Cruz was cut short in the parking lot of a Salem, Oregon nightclub. Just after 3:15 a.m., Salem Police patrol officers responded to a call about a man with a gunshot wound outside the La Leyenda night club on Portland Road NE. Upon their arrival, they discovered Lopez-Cruz deceased from a fatal gunshot wound.
The investigation into the death of Ricardo Lopez-Cruz quickly led detectives from the
Salem Police Violent Crimes Unit to identify potential suspects. The day after the shooting, on January 2, a 34-year-old Woodburn resident, Guadalupe Ortiz Cervantes, was taken into custody with the assistance of the Woodburn Police Department. She was lodged at the Marion County Jail on charges of hindering prosecution for allegedly assisting the suspected shooter in evading law enforcement.
The main suspect in the homicide, 36-year-old Julio Cesar Sanchez-Sanchez of Salem, turned himself in to the Roseburg Police Department on the afternoon of January 3. Sanchez-Sanchez was subsequently transferred to the Marion County Jail and faced charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. More than a year later, in May 2025, Sanchez-Sanchez pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of Lopez-Cruz.
Court proceedings revealed a complex backstory to the tragic event. Lopez-Cruz had previously been convicted of attempted first-degree sexual abuse against a young relative of Sanchez-Sanchez and had served a year and a half in prison. After his release, Lopez-Cruz reportedly followed and harassed Sanchez-Sanchez on several occasions, including taunting him at establishments where his band was performing. Security footage from the nightclub on the night of the shooting showed Lopez-Cruz gesturing and yelling at Sanchez-Sanchez as he left in an Uber. Shortly after, Sanchez-Sanchez returned in his truck and shot Lopez-Cruz. The case against Guadalupe Ortiz-Cervantes for hindering prosecution was still pending as of May 2025.
