On, July 31, 66-year-old Mary Lou Flores, a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, was killed during the chaos.
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"Everyone who knows her loved her," said Liz Loera, Flores' daughter. "Even as adult kids, we could always go to her for whatever we needed. My kids whenever they needed a ride or food or whatever it was. They would call her and she would do it."
On Tuesday, a man and woman were arrested for their alleged roles in the case.
20-year-old Johnny Tapia is charged with murder, nine counts of attempted murder, and four counts of assault with a firearm.
His bail was set at $12 million.
His girlfriend, 25-year-old Nicole Williams, is charged with four counts of assault with a firearm and accessory after the fact, her bail is $145,000.
Detectives said three vehicles were driving on Brawley Avenue when someone in a RAV 4 driven by Tapia shot into a Nissan Sentra driven by Flores.
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A 24-year-old man driving a Chevy Malibu was shot in the head. He pulled over to call the police.
Tapia and Flores continued to drive down Brawley going 60 to 70 miles per hour before they collided at the Weber Avenue intersection. The cars caught on fire. Flores and her passengers were taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Flores's daughter said she was in another car nearby at the time.
"I was there," said Loera. "I was there. I seen them working on her not breathing"
Authorities say Williams and Tapia ran from the scene. If convicted, Williams could serve more than 7 years in prison. Tapia faces 440 years to life in prison, but some of his current charges could be challenged by the defense.
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"If she died by the auto accident, as a result, the auto accident, I think the defense would have an argument as to say this isn't first-degree murder," said Tony Capozzi, Legal Analyst. "This is something else. Maybe it's vehicular manslaughter. Maybe it was an attempted murder, but she did die from another cause. So there's some room here for the defense to make some arguments to get these charges reduced."
Tapia has prior convictions that will be considered in this case. He was sentenced to prison for assault with a firearm and robbery in November 2021.
The two were also arraigned Thursday on felony robbery charges from a July 26 case. Tapia is charged with domestic violence in a July 28 incident as well.
Williams and Tapia are due back in court on September 21.
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