Family members speak after Orange County woman's ex-boyfriend arrested for her deadly shooting
The ex-boyfriend of the Anaheim woman shot and killed near a busy Tustin intersection on Thursday has been arrested on suspicion of murder, police said.
According to the Tustin Police Department, officers responded to the intersection of Yorba Street and Medford Avenue at about 6:11 p.m. on reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found Sandra Fernandez, 42 of Anaheim, fatally wounded from at least one gunshot wound.
Fernandez, a mother of two, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect fled the scene before police arrived. Investigators later identified the suspect as 42-year-old Hawthorne resident Juan Marquez.
Marquez, police said, is a former boyfriend of Fernandez.
Tustin PD said on Sunday that Marquez allegedly waited near Fernandez's workplace at the nonprofit Families Together. Her family said she was shot near her car, which was parked off-site.
In the ensuing investigation, it was revealed that Marquz fled to Mexico through the San Tsidro Port of Entry before his arrest. On Saturday, he was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as he attempted to re-enter the U.S. through the same border checkpoint. He was then transferred into the custody of the Tustin Police Department.
Marquez is now being held without bail in Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder.
On Sunday, just hours after Marquez was taken into custody, Fernandez's family members spoke with CBS LA about their loved one's death. They remembered her as the life of the party and a woman with a contagious spirit whose heart was dedicated to helping others.
"There's so much you can see from the outside. You know, the happiness, the helping hands, the always being there, being a great mother," said Melitza Uribe, Fernandez's niece.
She said that the energy her aunt brought into every room has left a void in their family. As she helps plan the funeral, she says there are still too many questions left unanswered. Though Marquez's arrest helps, she says they're still far from closure.
"We don't know the motive. We don't know why," Uribe said.
When asked what she would say to Marquez if she could, Uribe simply said "nothing."
"Only God knows what he deserves," she said. "He can take care of that. My heart is going to show no hatred."