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Who is Aleyda Mendoza? Orange shooter Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez’s ex horrified, prays it's 'just a bad dream'

Gonzalez opened fire at an Orange real estate company inside a business complex on March 31, leaving four, including a 9-year-old boy, dead and one gravely injured
PUBLISHED APR 5, 2021
Aleyda Mendoza was married to Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez and had worked for the company he had targeted for more than 10 years (LinkedIn/Orange Police Department)
Aleyda Mendoza was married to Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez and had worked for the company he had targeted for more than 10 years (LinkedIn/Orange Police Department)

ORANGE, CALIFORNIA: The Orange, California, shooter Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez's ex-wife has expressed horror and heartbreak over the harrowing incident that unfolded on March 31. In what comes as America's third mass shooting in two months, Gonzalez opened fire at an Orange real estate company called Unified Homez, thus killing four people, including a nine-year-old boy.

Gonzalez was shot in the head in gunfire with the authorities and now faces murder charges for these killings, his victims being people he knew. In the wake of this tragedy, his ex-wife, Aleyda Mendoza, gave a statement to SCNG, condemning Gonzalez's actions. She however has no idea what could have caused these shootings.

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Who is Aleyda Mendoza?

The Anaheim, Orange County, California, resident had once been married to the Orange shooter. She was also once employed as a specialist and transaction coordinator, by Unified Homez, a mobile home sales business. She currently works at the Prestige Real Estate Group in Anaheim, reveals the website Conan Daily. She and Gonzalez, 44, separated two years ago, following which she never heard from him again about where he was staying, or what he was doing currently. Speaking to the outlet, Mendoza also revealed the threats she has received against herself and her family after her ex opened fire at innocents.

“I don’t have the words to describe the pain and horror that this tragedy has caused me – this should have never happened,” Mendoza's statement read. “My heart is crushed, I still can’t accept that this happened, I keep closing my eyes and praying to God this is all just a bad dream and I’ll wake up soon.” Mendoza also called the company "my home for more than 10 years,” where the owners and co-workers “were my family.” She added, “I learned everything I know there and they shaped who I am today. They always supported me and were there for me and my children whenever I needed them most.”

Mendoza's colleagues were her ex's victims

Mendoza continued: “It hurts me even more knowing my ex-husband was capable of doing such a horrible thing, I can’t understand what went through his head to make such a terrifying decision. He left behind a sea of pain and grief for so many families who can’t find comfort." Gonzalez's victims included a nine-year-old boy called Matthew Farias, his half-sister Jenevieve Raygoza, 28, her father Luis Tovar, 50, and Tovar's colleague Leticia Solis Guzman. 

Farias and Raygoza's mother, Blanca Tamayo, also an employee at Unified Homez, was left gravely injured in the rampage. She's currently in the hospital in critical condition, with her family members starting a GoFundMe page to help raise donations for her medical expenses. Tovar and Tamayo had another son together called Luiz Tovar Jr who told the outlet there was never any tension between his parents and Gonzalez. Tovar Jr couldn't see any link between the company and the shooter, except that his ex, Mendoza, was an employee there once.

Matthew Farias, the 9-year-old boy killed in the Orange City shooting on March 31, 2021 (Gofundme)

Charges against Gonzalez

Speaking about why particularly the little boy would be targeted, Tovar Jr said, "He was just trying to cause as much damage as he could." Gonzalez, as of Friday, April 2, was still unconscious in the hospital and has not yet entered a plea for the four murder charges, or the attempted murder charge for Tamayo. Authorities are yet to outline a motive, although their working theory suggests a personal conflict between Tovar, the owner of the company, and Gonzalez. 

At around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31, officers responded to multiple shots fired at 202 W. Lincoln Avenue. The business complex's entryways had been shut by the shooter with "bicycle cable locks." Gonzalez, who was carrying a backpack containing pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition along with the semi-automatic handgun, was found injured inside the courtyard of the complex. A wounded Tamayo and Farias's body was also found there. Tovar, Raygoza, and Guzman's bodies were found in offices inside, and on an outdoor landing. The massacre was dubbed the biggest mass shooting in Orange, since the 2011 Seal Beach shooting that left 8 dead.

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