A 42-year-old man who allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend near her workplace in Tustin, then fled to Mexico, was arrested as he was returning to the United States, authorities said Sunday.
Officers responded shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday to a shooting at the intersection of Yorba Street and Medford Avenue, where they found Sandra Fernandez, 42, suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Lt. Matt Nunley of the Tustin Police Department.
The Anaheim resident was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The investigation revealed that the suspect, Juan Marquez, 47, of Hawthorne, is a former boyfriend of Sandra and laid in wait near Sandra’s workplace,” Nunley said. “Detectives were able to identify and confirm Marquez’s involvement in the shooting.”
Following the shooting, Marquez fled across the U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, authorities said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel, acting on an arrest warrant, detained Marquez on Friday afternoon as he was returning through the border checkpoint, police said.
Tustin police took him into custody and he was booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder. He was being held without bail.