Deija Mendez, a 23-year-old Hispanic female, was fatally shot in Lowell, Massachusetts on June 23, 2020. On that warm Tuesday afternoon, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Mendez was seated in the driver's seat of a black Chevrolet Tahoe on Coral Street when she was shot in the head. Lowell Police responded to the scene and found her with a gunshot wound; she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident was not believed to be a random act.
The investigation quickly identified 20-year-old Xavier DeJesus of Lowell as the primary suspect. Investigators determined that Mendez, who was from Boston, had traveled to Lowell with a friend to purchase a BMW that DeJesus had in his possession. The car was owned by Mendez's friend, but was with his ex-girlfriend, who was DeJesus's current girlfriend at the time. A dispute over the vehicle preceded the fatal shooting. Surveillance video captured an individual approaching the Tahoe before two shots were fired, one striking the car door and the other striking Mendez in the forehead.
Following the shooting, DeJesus fled the scene, leading to a manhunt. He was added to the Massachusetts State Police's Most Wanted list. During the investigation, three other individuals were arrested and charged with witness intimidation for allegedly lying to police. Two of them, Devine McKinney and Selena Simonphone, also faced charges of being accessories after the fact for allegedly helping DeJesus evade capture. After being on the run for five weeks, Xavier DeJesus was captured in Fall River on July 28, 2020. He was subsequently charged with murder, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without an FID card. Another man, Corey Roy, was also arrested and accused of conspiring to help DeJesus obtain the murder weapon and later attempting to arrange an alibi and escape for him.
In August 2023, Xavier DeJesus was convicted of second-degree murder and several firearms charges in connection with Deija Mendez's death. The court heard that DeJesus fired into the vehicle in a densely populated area in the middle of the afternoon, killing an innocent young woman.
