A 19-year-old teenager from California who was shot and kidnapped late Sunday has been found dead in what appears to be a random attack. Authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with her killing. Andrea Vazquez, 20, was found dead on Monday night in a vegetation field in Moreno Valley, Whittier police said in a news release.
The suspect, Gabriel Esparza, 20, of Whittier was arrested without any incident while at his workplace in Lakewood. Following his arrest, he has been charged with murder and kidnapping, and he is currently in custody without the possibility of bail, Whitter police said.
Random Kidnap and Murder
Vazquez was pulled from the parked vehicle she was in with her boyfriend at Penn Park after a gunman shot at them shortly around midnight on Sunday, as confirmed by authorities.
Police said that a firearm, suspected to have been used in the crime, was found, along with Esparza's vehicle, identified as a 2013 white Toyota Tacoma truck. "At this time, it appears that Andrea Vazquez and her male companion were randomly targeted by the suspect at Penn Park," Whittier police said.
According to Whittier Officer Thomas Mattsson, there seems to be no apparent connection between the alleged shooter and the victim.
The shooting took place in the parking vicinity of Penn Park shortly after midnight on Sunday, as confirmed by officials.
"An adult male witness reported that while at the park with an adult female companion, an armed suspect approached their vehicle and fired a weapon in their direction," police said in a statement.
"That same witness told police he ran from the car, and when he came back he found blood, and Vazquez missing."
Family Devastated
According to Edlyn Vazquez, the sister of the victim, who spoke to ABC7, Vazquez's boyfriend was a witness to the incident.
He fled when the armed assailant approached, and upon his return, Andrea Vazquez was no longer present.
"As he turned his back to ask for help, in that moment, my sister was kidnapped," Edlyn said.
Meanwhile, her heartbroken friends and family were praying for her safe return but that never happened. "It's a pain nobody deserves," her mother Anna told KCLA. "She was my everything."
Vasquez's older sister told the station she couldn't sleep as her sister was missing.
"It's hard to get rest, it just feels guilty to even sleep," Edlyn said. "She's a homebody. She was my best friend."
Vazquez's body was found on Monday night in a vegetation field located in Moreno Valley.
She was not only a student in the field of fashion design at Fullerton College but also held a job at a mall in Cerritos.
Veronica Becerra, Andrea Vazquez's aunt, told KTLA on Tuesday that the family was devastated by the news of her death. "She was an angel. I am left only with her smile and her face," Becerra said.
