In the early morning hours of May 30, 2009, the quiet of Arivaca, Arizona, was shattered by a violent home invasion that claimed the life of 29-year-old Raul Junior Flores. Disguised as law enforcement officers searching for fugitives, three individuals forced their way into the Flores residence. The intruders were identified as Shawna Forde, the leader of a vigilante group called Minutemen American Defense ; Jason Eugene Bush; and Albert Gaxiola.
Their true motive was to rob the family of money and drugs they believed they would find, in order to finance the operations of Forde's anti-immigrant organization.
Inside the home, the situation quickly escalated. When the assailants did not find the drugs and money they expected, they turned their weapons on the family. Raul Flores Jr. was shot and killed. The attackers also murdered his nine-year-old daughter, Brisenia Ylianna Flores. Raul's wife, Gina Gonzalez, was also shot multiple times but survived by pretending to be dead. After the intruders initially left, Gonzalez managed to call 911 and arm herself with her husband's handgun. When the assailants re-entered the house, she exchanged gunfire with them, wounding Bush in the leg before they fled for good.
The subsequent investigation led by the Pima County Sheriff's Department swiftly identified the three perpetrators. Gina Gonzalez's eyewitness account was crucial in their capture. Further evidence included the discovery of Gonzalez's jewelry, including her wedding ring, in Shawna Forde's possession upon her arrest. Text messages and recorded conversations also implicated the trio in the planning and execution of the brutal home invasion.
In 2011, all three assailants were convicted for the murders. Shawna Forde and Jason Eugene Bush were sentenced to death for their roles in the killings of Raul and Brisenia Flores. Albert Gaxiola, who was believed to have provided information about the Flores family to the group, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
