KNBC TV L.A.
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Male Hispanic Feb 23, 1979 5'5" - 5'9" 160 - 185 Brown Green |
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- Saul Zavala's Story
- Saul Zavala's Letter to President Bush (pdf)
- Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Wanted Poster (pdf)
On the morning of June 8, 1999, seventeen-year-old Olivia Munguia and her cousin, fifteen-year-old Jessica Zavala were shot to death as they walked to school in Lynwood, California. The gunman, twenty-year-old Juan Manuel Casillas, was angry with Olivia Munguia because she had recently broken off their dating relationship. In the days prior to the shooting, Casillas stalked and threatened Olivia Munguia.
The police investigation revealed that Casillas approached the two girls with a gun as they walked down the street. Casillas fired five rounds into Olivia Munguia’s back, and one round into Jessica Zavala’s back. Witnesses observed Casillas flee from the scene. Olivia and Jessica were taken to the hospital where they both died as a result of the gunshot wounds.After the police investigation, Casillas was charged with two counts of murder. Before officers could arrest him, Casillas, a Mexican national, fled to Mexico. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office waived the death penalty and requested extradition. Mexico denied the request to extradite Casillas because he would face a potential sentence of life without parole. Once extradition was denied, Mexico prosecuted Casillas for the murders.
In 2002, Mexican authorities informed the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department that Casillas was convicted and sentenced to sixty years in prison. The victims’ family was never notified of the trial. They were not provided any opportunity to be heard at Casillas’ sentencing hearing. They doubt the authenticity of the sentence and believe that Casillas will be able to "buy" his freedom. Under current state law California can never prosecute Casillas for these murders because he was already tried in Mexico.
For my family, losing my daughter, Jessica Zavala (15), and my niece, Olivia Munguia (17), in such a senseless murder, has been the greatest tragedy we have had in our lives. They were murdered by a man without a heart. Now the only thing that remains is their memory, their photos, and their videos. Both girls were assassinated three days after Jessica’s Quinceañera (15th birthday party).
On Tuesday, June 8, 1999, my life changed forever. I was working when I got the telephone call. It was around 8 a.m. when a police officer from the Sheriff’s Department called me telling me Jessica had had an accident. They asked me if they could pick me up at my work and I told them I could drive to Jessica himself. I drove to Saint Francis Medical Center expecting the worst. As I drove to the hospital, I got a call from my wife, Petra, who was hysterical. She told me that our niece Olivia was dead and that Jessica was very critical. When I arrived, I was told Jessica was in intensive care. I saw some detectives and a few priests. I tried to go in to see Jessica, but I was not allowed because the nurses told me she was in surgery.
All along I had a feeling that the murderer of my daughter and niece was Juan Manuel Casillas. I remembered that on the day of my daughter’s quinceañera, on Saturday June 5th, Casillas had had a heated argument with some of Jessica’s friends. Casillas had actually unloaded a gun into the air in front of my home. At that point, everyone outside scattered and many ran back into my home. When I went to the front of my home to see what was going on, I noticed Casillas had dropped his wallet as he fled. I picked it up and gave it to the Sheriff's deputy who came to my home after calling 911, but they did not follow-up quickly enough. I remember feeling frustrated and angry as I noticed that they did not even complete a police report. The Sheriff's deputy took Casillas’ wallet, but I was told they had more important things to do. Now my daughter and niece are dead.
I was later told by Sheriff's detectives that Casillas had crashed his car later that Saturday night and that he decided to burn it. Apparently, on Monday, a day before the murder, Casillas and his friend were waiting for Jessica and Olivia after school, but a friend of Jessica’s hid them both in his home and helped them evade Casillas by going home through the friend’s backyard. So in other words, Casillas was stalking my daughter and niece. On the day of the murder, on Tuesday morning, Casillas finally caught my daughter and niece as they were on their way to school and he opened fire on both. Though the Sheriff's detectives told me that Casillas acted alone, other people in the neighborhood said there were a total of four men in the car.
When I was in the hospital and I saw my wife in tears, I assumed that my daughter and niece were both dead. The nurses told me my daughter Jessica was in very critical condition. I told the detectives that they should put law enforcement personnel at the Mexican border because I believed Casillas was responsible for the shooting of Jessica and Olivia. I thought Casillas would flee because I knew that many cold-blooded killers do that. At the time of the shooting, I did not know Casillas by name, I just knew him by the driver’s license he had left by my home. I also remember telling the Sheriff's detectives at the hospital that they were in possession of Casillas’ wallet and that could help find him faster. Apparently, the Sheriff's deputies located the wallet at one of their police stations and went looking for Casillas at his home, but of course, he was no longer there.
My family started arriving at the hospital as they saw what had occurred on the television news. An hour after I had arrived at the hospital, I was told my daughter had died. It was the worst feeling in the world. It is so hard to describe how painful the loss of my daughter and niece were, especially in the cold-blooded manner in which they died. I was devastated and angry—angry at the killer and angry at the Sheriff’s Department for not preventing what occurred when they had the chance. In addition, I want everyone to know of the corruption I have seen with the Mexican government—first I was promised that Casillas would quickly be extradited to the United States and a month later, the Mexican government changed its mind. Many families are in the same position—of dealing with several broken promises.
Every Sunday, we all go to the cemetery and spend time with my daughter Jessica. My family has been completely destroyed. Before my home was one of the happiest homes in the neighborhood, now it is by far one of the saddest—everyone who knows the Zavala family says this and can see the difference. Every member in my family has been greatly affected, we are all in a state of depression.
There were times when I wanted to take the law into my own hands. I actually went to Mexico to look for him, but I did not find him. I went to Casillas’ hometown in the state of Jalisco, but he was no longer there when I got there. I do not know what I would have done if I had found Casillas. I swore to my daughter that there would be justice and I have not lost hope that there will be. This coward of a man was obsessed with my niece Olivia and because she did not want anything to do with him, he killed them both. Olivia’s family is in Mexico, she was under my care when her murder occurred. I really feel like I lost two daughters. I remember not having the will to tell my sister that her daughter was dead. Instead, I told her Olivia was sick, but my sister already knew that her daughter had been killed because she had seen it on television in Mexico. My sister was obviously destroyed by the news. It was a terrible day when we had to go pick up my sister at the airport.
I know Casillas, the killer of my daughter and niece, is now in a maximum security prison near Mexico City. I attended a meeting with the Mexican government and some county sheriff staff and I expressed my desire to be present during the trial in Mexico of Casillas and everyone agreed that would be fine and that they would notify me of the criminal trial. I decided not to go anywhere that December of 2000, waiting to receive news so I could travel to Mexico, but no one ever told me of the trial. The next thing I knew, the trial of Casillas took place in Mexico and I was excluded from seeing it. Now I found out from the Mexican Consulate that they notified the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department about the criminal trial of Casillas, but they decided I did not need to know. That, of course, angered me greatly. The Mexican Attorney General’s Office was quoted in the newspapers as saying that they were not under any obligation to notify me, so I am not sure where the truth lies.
I still have my doubts as to whether Casillas was ever tried. It is difficult for me to imagine the prosecution of a killer when you do not ask the people directly affected by the murder to testify, to be at the trial. I thought I was going to be able to watch the entire trial and see how many years Casillas would be sentenced to. I was told by the Mexican Consulate and representatives of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office that they were going to try to sentence Casillas to 120 years. I also wanted to know what evidence there was, to find out what really happened the day my daughter and my niece were killed. Part of the reasons I wanted to have the criminal trial in California was because of the possible corruption that could take place if it were in Mexico. I know that sometimes defendants get a long sentence, but only serve a portion of that sentence in Mexico.
I know we cannot revive my daughter and my niece, but I think justice would be served if the Mexican government would bring the killer of my daughter to the United States. I know my family is not alone in asking Mexico to let criminals serve their sentence in the country where they committed their crimes. I do not know why the Mexican government wants to keep these cowards in their country. I, too, am Mexican and they should care about me and my rights as a Mexican and as a victim.
The media frequently calls me to find out what has happened with Casillas and I have nothing to tell them. They ask me why it was so easy to bring Andrew Luster to the United States, but not the killer of Jessica and Olivia. I tell them that we are still fighting and still doing what we can. I told them that we would be having a press conference to shed more attention to this growing problem. I am at a loss as to why Mexico refuses to extradite fugitives, after all the crime was committed over here and the victims are here. I have no idea why the Mexican government protects these criminals so much. I heard from the Mexican government that the only way Casillas could end up in the United States is if he wanted to be brought to this country. Of course, he will not want to considering the longer sentence he faces in the U.S.
They were both so young. My daughter, Jessica Zavala, was born June 12, 1983 and my niece, Olivia Munguia, was born September 27, 1981. I will never give up, I promised my daughter that there would be justice and I plan to make sure there is.
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