The man who allegedly shot and killed a UPS driver in Southern California last week was not only the victim's coworker but his childhood friend, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, which announced charges on Tuesday.
Rhean Jalipa Fontanoza, 46, has been charged with the special circumstance murder of Expedito De Leon, 50. Investigators are still working to learn the motive for the shooting.
Fontanoza, a UPS employee who was out on work disability until June 1, allegedly stopped a UPS driver around 12:30 p.m. on May 16 to ask if the route belonged to De Leon. It didn't, so Fontanoza went to the UPS substation in Aliso Viejo where he was allegedly seen accessing driver routes on a computer and taking a photo with his phone.
At around 3 p.m., Fontanoza allegedly caught up with De Leon on his route, while driving a new vehicle his longtime friend wouldn't recognize. De Leon returned to his UPS vehicle after making a delivery and buckled his seat belt, with his UPS scanner still in hand.
It was at that moment that Fontanoza allegedly drove up next to De Leon's delivery truck and shot him 14 times in 19 seconds.
Fontanoza allegedly fled after the shooting. He was located by police later that afternoon in his vehicle on Santiago Canyon Road in Orange. He refused to exit his vehicle, prompting police to deploy a K9 unit and tear gas into his vehicle, leading to his arrest.
“Mr. De Leon was just going about his day, doing his job with no idea his longtime friend was stalking him with every intent to kill him,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement Tuesday. “The depravity involved to plot and carry out a plan to execute someone you shared a lifetime of memories is not something anyone of us can wrap our heads around. No life should have to end like this and it is a tragedy that should have never happened.”
Fontanoza is being held without bail. If convicted, he will be eligible for the death penalty.
—TMX contributed to this report.