On a tragic Friday night in Nashville, Tennessee, the life of 29-year-old Hispanic male Franklin Bautista-Ayala was cut short in a burst of violence. On October 11, 2024, Bautista-Ayala and another man, Luis Gonzalez-Barajas, 37, were fatally shot outside a home on Vultee Boulevard. The two men had just arrived in the driveway of the residence in a white Acura sedan shortly after 11:30 p.m.
when the gunman, who was sitting on the front porch, opened fire.
An argument preceded the deadly shooting. The suspect, identified as Jose Cerros-Lopez, 41, who was living at the Vultee Boulevard home, exchanged words with Bautista-Ayala and Gonzalez-Barajas across the yard. Following the brief dispute, Cerros-Lopez allegedly fired at both men with two pistols, killing them at the scene. The investigation that followed led authorities to piece together the events of that night.
Responding quickly to the shooting, Hermitage Precinct officers encountered an individual, believed to be Cerros-Lopez, attempting to leave the scene in a pickup truck. The driver then abandoned the truck and fled towards the house in the darkness. For approximately four hours, law enforcement surrounded the home, using both English and Spanish to urge the occupants to come outside. A man and a woman eventually exited and confirmed to police that Jose lived with them. Investigators believe Cerros-Lopez fled the property on foot, and both pistols he allegedly used in the shooting were recovered at the scene.
In the months following the double homicide, a significant development occurred in the case. Maria Doris Urbina-Escalante, 25, the girlfriend of the suspected shooter, was arrested and charged with false reporting. She initially told detectives that she was asleep when the shooting happened but later admitted she had been awake and outside, witnessing the fatal confrontation. Urbina-Escalante's revised statement implicated her boyfriend, Jose Cerros-Lopez, as the gunman. Warrants have since been issued for his arrest on two counts of criminal homicide. Authorities are actively searching for Cerros-Lopez and have asked the public for any information regarding his whereabouts.
