A man suspected of fatally shooting four people in Orange, California, remains unconscious in the hospital, forcing law officials to delay his scheduled April 5 arraignment.
“We are patiently waiting for him to be conscious,” Vania Tovar, who lost her father and sister in the shootings, told The Epoch Times. “They will be checking every day. The only thing I can ask is that we keep this story alive so we can make sure justice is served.”
On March 31 at about 5:30 p.m., a man used bicycle-type locks to secure the gates leading to an office building at 202 W. Lincoln Avenue in Orange before opening fire inside a Unified Homes office.
Blanca Tamayo, the mother of Jenevieve and Matthew, survived the shooting. As of April 5, she remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez was charged April 2 with four felony counts of murder, one felony count of attempted murder, and two felony counts of attempted murder of a police officer.
He was also charged with four felony enhancements of the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, one felony enhancement of the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, one felony enhancement of premeditation, one felony enhancement of the personal use of a firearm, and one felony enhancement of the personal discharge of a firearm.
Gonzalez, who is currently in a hospital bed at the UC Irvine Medical Center, was initially scheduled to be arraigned on April 2. The arraignment was postponed until April 5 due to him being incapacitated and unable to communicate with attorneys, although he has reportedly opened his eyes.
On April 5, Gonzalez remained incapacitated, so the arraignment was rescheduled to April 6.
‘He Visited Our Homes’
Vania Tovar said she recognized the suspect as the ex-husband of a former employee who worked at Unified homes about two years ago.As recently as three years ago, his children would play with the victims’ children during family gatherings, she said.
“He visited our homes, his children played with our children,” Tovar said. “He would go to barbecues and Christmas parties, he went to Jenevieve’s house for birthday parties. Before this all happened I never thought he would be the shooter based on my interactions with him.”
Tovar earlier described her half-sister, Raygoza, as “the sweetest woman alive.”
“Not a cold bone in her body,” Tovar said. “My sweet sister didn’t deserve this. She was never in a bad mood and always helped me in my decisions. We spoke every day. She was my sanity. She was my soul. I know all she would want now is to make sure her family is taken care of.”
Raygoza’s sons, who are 4 and 8, were playing softball at the time of the shooting, with their dad Armando Raygoza watching from the sidelines.
They have since learned of their mother’s death.
“He said, ‘No, not my mommy,’” Tovar said, describing how one of the young boys reacted to the killing.
Tovar also lost her father, Luis, in the shootings.
“He was our everything and the glue to the entire Tovar family,” she said. “He was the best dad, the best grandfather to all of his grandchildren, and the most selfless person on the earth. If anyone was going through a rough time or was in a difficult situation they came to my dad.”
She said she’s currently working to plan funerals.
Luis Tovar owned Unified Homes, a manufactured home dealer and real estate company in Orange County.
Alexis Pina, the youngest son of Leticia Solís Guzman, who was also killed in the shooting, said his mother worked at Unified Homes since he was just a little boy. Employees there were like an extended family, he said.
“They were [close]. They’re all like a family,” Pina told The Epoch Times. “They had Christmas parties together and stuff like that. So they were very close-knit.”
If found guilty, Gonzalez may face the death penalty, OCDA Todd Spitzer has said.
Although a specific motive isn’t clear, police said the victims knew the suspect both personally and professionally.
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