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Tustin police arrest man accused of fatally shooting ex-girlfriend before fleeing to Mexico

Juan Marquez in a mug shot.
Tustin police arrested 47-year-old Juan Marquez in connection with the death of his ex-girlfriend, 42-year-old Sandra Fernandez. Authorities said he fled across the U.S.-Mexico border following the homicide last week and was taken into custody Saturday.
(Tustin Police Department)
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Tustin police have arrested a 47-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend before fleeing to Mexico, the department announced Sunday.

Officers arrested Juan Marquez on Saturday, in connection with the death of Sandra Fernandez, 42, on Thursday, the department said in a news release.

Fernandez, an Anaheim resident, was found unresponsive by officers at the intersection of Yorba Street and Medford Avenue. She had suffered fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The department said its investigation revealed that Marquez, a Hawthorne resident, is a former boyfriend of Fernandez and waited for her near her workplace.

After identifying Marquez as a suspect, investigators said they learned that he’d fled across the U.S.-Mexico border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, police said.

After authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Marquez, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, acting on the warrant, detained Marquez as he returned to the country through the border checkpoint.

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Tustin detectives took Marquez into custody and booked him into the Orange County Jail on a murder charge. He is being held without bail.

KTLA reported that Fernandez was a single mother of three children between the ages of 5 and 21. According to the outlet, Fernandez recently started a new job and was heading home from training at the time of the shooting.

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