Five men are under arrest after being accused of involvement in a murder-for-hire plot that led to the death of a San Bernardino woman gunned down outside a restaurant.
Surveillance footage from January 10 captured the chilling moment 45-year-old Yesenia "Jessica" Torres was ambushed in the parking lot of Burger Point and chased around her car before she was shot.
What looks like an armed robbery is something much more sinister. San Bernardino Police say a local business owner is targeted in a murder-for-hire plot. One of the suspects: her estranged husband. The deadly divorce - Tonight at 11 from ABC7. https://t.co/vtSyB3tWxZ pic.twitter.com/D95vaDnhUE
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 19, 2025
What initially appeared to be a robbery was later revealed by authorities to allegedly be a calculated execution stemming from a contentious divorce dispute, ABC7 reported. According to San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman, the plot was motivated by disagreement over the division of multi-million-dollar assets.
Investigators identified the alleged shooter as 31-year-old Gerardo Llamas-Torres and the alleged getaway driver as 54-year-old Arnoldo Ruelas. The alleged mastermind behind the murder was Torres' estranged husband, 53-year-old Sergio Reveles, who police say orchestrated the plot with his business partner, 42-year-old Juan Perez, and Ruelas' brother, 37-year-old Reynaldo Ruelas, who reportedly acted as an intermediary.
Authorities executed multiple search warrants, arresting Llamas-Torres and Arnoldo Ruelas on January 16. Reveles and Perez were taken into custody on February 6, during which detectives seized over $286,000 in cash and multiple firearms.
"Jessica was a businesswoman in our community," Goodman told reporters. "She was well known and well respected...very civically engaged and supported numerous endeavors throughout our city."
All five suspects have been charged with murder and special circumstances, including financial gain, robbery and lying in wait. They have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail, with a pre-preliminary hearing scheduled for March 14.
Originally published on Latin Times
