On Sunday, December 4, 2022, at 4:27 PM, Santa Ana Police Communications received a report of a shooting with a female down at 1400 South Cypress Street. Officers responded and located an adult female in the parking lot of 1473 South Main Street, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to her upper torso. Orange County Fire Authority treated the victim at the scene and transported her to a local hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.
On Friday, December 9, 2022, hospital staff notified the Department that the victim, Maria Del Refugio Mora (36), succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased.
During the preliminary investigation, officers determined that subjects in a white colored sedan shot at two male juveniles. The juveniles ran into the parking lot as they were being fired upon. The juveniles were not injured; however, the victim, an innocent bystander, was struck by gunfire.
Since the day of the shooting, our Homicide Unit has worked tirelessly on the investigation with every intent to get the suspect(s) into custody. Follow-up investigation, which included analyzing surveillance, interviews, and investigative resources, led us to the identification of the vehicle, a white Toyota Camry, which ultimately led to the identification of the suspects (Mark Remmers-19 and Brooke De La Cruz-24), both from the City of Orange.
On Thursday, December 15, 2022, Remmers and De La Cruz were taken into custody. Remmers was taken into custody in the 2100 block of Newport Blvd. in the City of Costa Mesa. De La Cruz was taken into custody in the 500 block of South Hill Street in Orange, along with the suspect vehicle.
“It is through the collaborative efforts of our Homicide Unit, Major Enforcement Team, VICE Unit, and Career Criminal Unit that these two arrests were possible. The collateral killing of an innocent bystander, a mother of three, by a gang-related shooting should never happen in our communities, especially during the holiday season. Our deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family, particularly to her three children, who will have to spend this and every other holiday without a mother,” said Chief David Valentin. “As a Department, we will continue our proactive efforts to address gang violence and allocate additional resources to field operations to strengthen our enforcement efforts further.” -Chief David Valentin.
We are still actively investigating this case, gathering evidence, and attempting to identify additional suspects and witnesses.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call SAPD Homicide Section Detectives at (714) 245-8390 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS. This case is eligible for the Gang Reward Program.
