A well-known California fitness influencer and her date were killed by her estranged husband in a tragic shooting, before the suspect was fatally shot by an off-duty deputy, authorities said.
Gloria Zamora, 40, a mother of seven with more than 150,000 Instagram followers, and her date, 43-year-old Hector Garduno, a father of four, were gunned down on Saturday night, June 21, in the parking lot of Summa Sushi in Fontana. Together, they leave behind 11 children.
Police say Zamora’s estranged second husband, Thomas Alberto Tamayo Lizarraga, opened fire on her and her date just days after she revealed on her HERizon podcast that she was leaving him.
“They were going through a divorce, and that led to this,” Officer Steve Reed of the Fontana Police Department told ABC 7. “We don’t know how he knew where she was, but apparently, she had been at the restaurant for about an hour before the shooting.”
Several off-duty law enforcement officers were nearby when the shots rang out. One off-duty San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, who happened to be driving past the shopping center, witnessed the attack, made a U-turn, and confronted Lizarraga. The deputy fatally shot him at the scene. Authorities have not yet released his identity.
Zamora’s daughter, Jazlynne, confirmed the heartbreaking news through a GoFundMe post, writing: “My mom was senselessly taken from us. She was murdered by my stepdad Tomas in an act of unimaginable violence.” She remembered her mother as “a light in her community” who “uplifted and inspired countless women,” adding, “She always said, ‘Women can do anything they set their minds to,’ and she lived those words every day.”
Garduno’s children also launched a GoFundMe campaign, honoring him as a “devoted and hardworking man who was tragically murdered and gone too soon.”
According to Zamora’s fundraiser, her seven children—ages 8 to 24—now face a future without their mother’s “warmth, guidance, and unconditional love.”
Fontana police said the investigation is still ongoing
