TUSTIN, Calif. — Authorities have arrested Juan Marquez, 47, in connection with the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Fernandez, 42, outside her workplace in Tustin, just outside Anaheim, Southern California. Marquez faces a murder charge.
Fatal Shooting
Police responded shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday to a report of a shooting near Yorba Street and Medford Avenue. Officers found Fernandez unresponsive on the curb with gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing a man dressed in all black fleeing in a dark-colored, older-model sedan. Investigators identified Marquez as the alleged shooter, stating he laid in wait near Fernandez’s workplace and shot her as she walked to her car.
Flight and Arrest
After the shooting, Marquez fled across the U.S.–Mexico border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Police obtained an arrest warrant on Saturday. Marquez was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon his return to the United States and is currently being held without bond at the Orange County Jail.
Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive, and a court date has not been announced.
Victim Background
Fernandez was a mother of three — a 5-year-old, a 14-year-old, and an adult son in college — and had recently started a new job, where coworkers described her as quickly making a positive impact.
“Even though it was just under a month, she already was making good relationships and having a great impact, so this is really a tragedy,” co-worker Cassie Rossel told KTLA.
Her family has launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for her funeral. The fundraiser description read:
“No one deserves to leave their family the way she went. Words won’t describe what our family is feeling and going through right now.”
