Woman, 22, Dies After Shooting Outside Turlock Auto Parts Store; Suspect Previously Accused Of Stalking Her
TURLOCK (CBS13) — A 22-year-old Livingston man is suspected of shooting and killing a woman in Turlock he had been previously arrested for stalking, detectives say.
The Turlock Police Department says the incident began around 9 p.m. Tuesday near outside an auto parts store near Geer Road and Wayside Drive. Officers responded to that scene to investigate a reported shooting and quickly encountered the suspect leaving in a car.
Officers tried to pull the suspect over, but he kept on going until he crashed into a fence along the 100 block North Quincy Road.
By this point, officers at the original scene found a 22-year-old woman had been shot several times. The woman was rushed to the hospital, but police say she was later pronounced dead.
Neighbors in the area of the second scene were told to shelter in place as officers did a yard-to-yard search for the suspect. He was eventually noticed by an alert resident who immediately called 911. Officers soon found the suspect hiding along the 1300 block of Estates Drive and took him into custody without further incident.
Police have identified the suspect as 22-year-old Juan Francisco Ibarra-Tapia. An investigation into his past revealed that Ibarra-Tapia had been arrested back in Merced County back in October 2021 on suspicion of stalking the woman who was shot and killed on Tuesday. She has been identified by police as 22-year-old Zobeyda Esquerra, also a Livingston resident.
Further, investigators say Ibarra-Tapia also allegedly shot at two employees inside of the auto parts store at the first scene along Geer Road on Tuesday night. Neither employee were hurt, police say.
Ibarra-Tapia has been booked into Stanislaus County jail and is facing numerous charges, including homicide, two counts of attempted homicide, two counts of discharging a firearm during a felony, and evading.
