In the quiet town of Kelso, Washington, the life of 31-year-old Cody Tamayo was tragically cut short on the evening of August 13, 2024. A father of three, Tamayo was on the phone with his brother near the Boondox Gas and Grocery on West Cowlitz Way when shots were fired in a drive-by shooting. He was found in his black truck with a gunshot wound to his head. Emergency services airlifted him to a hospital in Clark County, but his injuries proved fatal.
He was pronounced brain dead and kept on a ventilator for organ donation.
Cody, who was born in Longview, Washington, was remembered by his family as a "giant teddy bear" and the life of the party, always joking and living in the moment. He worked as a foreman in commercial roofing and had recently been remodeling the flooring of his new home with his father-in-law on the day of the shooting. He is survived by his wife, Samaria, and his three daughters, who were two months, three years, and thirteen years old at the time of his death. His family described the days following his death as a time of endless sobbing, struggling to comprehend the sudden loss of a man they said was good and didn't deserve his fate.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led to the arrest of two suspects, 19-year-old Conner Santos Aguayo and 18-year-old Eligha Christian Buckner-Lopez, both of Longview. They were apprehended about an hour after the incident when police in Rainier located the abandoned Chrysler believed to be used in the shooting. Both men were charged with first-degree premeditated murder and drive-by shooting. While the motive for the shooting has not been definitively determined by law enforcement, and it is unclear if it was gang-related, the legal process has moved forward.
In the months following the tragic event, there has been a significant development in the case. Conner Aguayo pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated murder with a firearm enhancement. He now faces the possibility of life in prison with a sentencing hearing scheduled. The case against Eligha Buckner-Lopez, who faces the same charges, is proceeding to trial.
