Dad, Jose G. Mendoza, Kills His Daughter's Ex-boyfriend After He Allegedly Put Hands Around Her Neck

Dad kills his daughter’s ex-boyfriend after he allegedly put hands around her neck.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call in the 3700 block of Sierra Highway on Monday around 4:45 p.m. According to LASD, a woman – who was driving a gray compact car – was being chased by her ex-boyfriend, a 26-year-old man who was driving a white Chrysler sedan.

The tense chase led to the cars hitting each other at least once. Both cars eventually stopped in the middle of Sierra Highway near Avenue S. LASD was told the ex-boyfriend tried to break into the woman’s car as she was calling for help from family members who had called 9-1-1 for her.

The woman’s father pulled up to the scene in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck, got out of the vehicle, and shot the ex-boyfriend in the head, ultimately killing him.

The dad, later identified as Jose Mendoza, took off from the scene and remains on the run. LASD warned the public to not approach Mendoza, who is believed to still be armed after the deadly shooting.

Mendoza is believed to be from Littlerock, a neighborhood just southeast of Palmdale.

On Thursday, it was revealed Mendoza swung by a police station after the deadly shooting to turn himself in. However, he left the building after briefly waiting inside.

Anyone with information on Mendoza is asked to call LASD’s homicide bureau at 323-890-5500. Jose G. Mendoza, 59, shot 26-year-old Giovannie Gutierrez on Monday in the city of Palmdale after arriving at a two-car collision involving Gutierrez and Mendoza’s daughter, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A press release issued Tuesday warns that Mendoza is believed to be armed with a semi-automatic handgun “and should not be approached.”

Sheriff’s deputies responding to a domestic violence report Monday about 4:47 p.m. found Gutierrez lying unresponsive in the middle of a highway with a gunshot wound to his head. Witnesses described a wild scene: Gutierrez was driving a white Chrysler 300M sedan, chasing “a gray compact car” driven by his ex-girlfriend, the sheriff’s department said.

The cars collided “at least one time,” then stopped in the middle of the 37300 block of Sierra Highway, where Gutierrez “attempted to force entry into his ex-girlfriend’s car as she was seeking help from family members who had called 9-1-1,” according to the release.

A man police identified as Mendoza arrived a short while later in a white Ford Ranger pick-up and shot Gutierrez in the head, the release said.

Mendoza lives in the small town of Littlerock, California, about 10 miles from Palmdale in northeast Los Angeles County. He’s described as Hispanic with black hair and brown eyes, 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds.