John Jefferson
Top inset: Yesenia Torres (TikTok/KTTV). Bottom insets, from left: Gerardo Llamas, Arnoldo Ruelas, Reynaldo Ruelas, Juan Perez and Sergio Reveles (San Bernardino Police Department). Background: Surveillance video allegedly shows Llamas firing at Torres on Jan. 10, 2025, at a hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, Calif. (San Bernardino Police Department).
A California woman was gunned down outside a hamburger restaurant, and her estranged husband is accused with four other men of targeting her in a murder-for-hire scheme stemming from the couple’s “contentious” divorce.
Sergio Reveles, 53, Reynaldo Ruelas, 37, Arnoldo Ruelas, 54, Gerardo Llamas, 31, and Juan Perez, 42, face charges in the killing of Reveles’ wife, Yesenia Torres, 44, police said.
Torres was shot on Jan. 10 outside the Burger Point restaurant at 444 W. Mill St. in San Bernardino, more than 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
Surveillance footage shows the moments leading up to the attack as Torres walks to her Mercedes SUV and a vehicle pulls up behind her. A passenger — identified as Llamas — walks up to her and appears to try to take her purse. Torres fights back. A struggle ensues. A passerby attempts to intervene, but runs away when Llamas appears to point the weapon in his direction.
Torres runs around her vehicle to try to escape as Llamas allegedly appears to point the weapon — an apparent silencer attached — at her before allegedly shooting as she runs for the door of the restaurant. Police said nine shots were fired. Afterward, Llamas allegedly gets into a waiting getaway vehicle that drives off.
Paramedics found Torres dead at the doorway to the restaurant.
Hours later, police found the suspects’ getaway vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, which ultimately led to the arrests of the five suspects over the ensuing weeks in raids at locations across Southern California in which hundreds of thousands of dollars were also seized.
In a press conference announcing the charges, San Bernardino authorities said the plot was staged to look like a robbery. But investigators ultimately learned it allegedly stemmed from a “contentious” divorce between Reveles and Torres after they linked the suspects and the victim through a pallet business the former couple owned. The two owned commercial real estate and shared millions of dollars in assets, said San Bernardino Police Department Detective Dominick Martinez. The suspects stalked the victim for several months before the murder and from her home to the restaurant the day she was killed, Martinez said.
The suspects each face one count of murder with special circumstances, including lying in wait, financial gain, and crime committed in commission of a robbery.
Local Fox affiliate KTTV shared clips from Torres’ TikTok account, showing her discussing the importance of community involvement. San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman described Torres as a good citizen.
“She was well-known and well-respected by many throughout the community,” he said. “She was very civically engaged and supported numerous endeavors throughout the city.”
The suspects are set to appear in court on March 14.
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