Andrea Vasquez

Andrea Vasquez, a 19-year-old Hispanic woman from Whittier, California, was a fashion design student at Fullerton College who also worked as a lash artist with her sister. Her family remembered her as a beautiful person who was just starting her life.

After midnight on August 20, 2023, Andrea and her boyfriend were in a parked car at Penn Park in Whittier when an armed man approached and began shooting with a rifle. Her boyfriend fled the gunfire. When he returned to the car, he found blood nearby, and Andrea was gone. The Whittier Police Department stated that the couple appeared to have been randomly targeted.

The investigation led authorities to a remote area in Moreno Valley, about 50 miles east of the park. Late on the night of August 21, detectives discovered Andrea’s body in a vegetation field. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office later alleged that after the shooting, the assailant had kidnapped Andrea, placed her in the bed of his pickup truck, and driven her to Moreno Valley, where he attempted to rape her before leaving her body in the field.

On August 21, 2023, police arrested Gabriel Sean Esparza, 20, at his job in Lakewood. Authorities recovered a weapon and seized Esparza's truck, both believed to be connected to the crime. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Esparza with murder, attempted murder for the attack on Andrea's boyfriend, kidnapping, and two counts of attempted forcible rape. The charges included special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a kidnapping and an attempted rape.

At his arraignment in August 2023, Gabriel Esparza pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is being held without bail as the case proceeds through the legal system.