On the night of August 3, 2014, in South Bend, Indiana, 22-year-old Francisco Javier Guzman was at his home on West Huron Circle when a knock came at the door. When he responded, two men were on the other side of the screen door. They asked him to confirm his identity, and when he said 'yes,' they began shooting. Guzman tried to shut the wooden front door, but the assailants continued to fire through it. Inside, he collapsed from a gunshot wound and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
An autopsy confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.
The investigation into the homicide was aided by a ShotSpotter alert that brought South Bend Police to the scene, where they found numerous. 45-caliber shell casings and a green hat. Nearly a year after the shooting, arrests were made in the case. Arremone Tobar and Davion Smith were identified as the two men who went to Guzman's home that night. A witness identified Smith as one of the shooters and as the man who was wearing the green hat that was left behind.
During police interviews, the motive for the killing became clear. Smith acknowledged his and Tobar's involvement, stating they had gone to Guzman's house to commit a robbery and that Tobar started shooting when Guzman opened the door. Tobar, however, told detectives that he and Smith were paid to kill Guzman and that they split the payment. He admitted to shooting Guzman with a. 45-caliber handgun. Both Tobar and Smith were subsequently charged with murder. The family of Francisco Javier Guzman, who was a father to a young son with another child on the way, had long suspected he was the victim of a targeted killing.
