A popular fitness influencer and the man she was dating were shot and killed by her jealous, estranged husband — who was later shot dead by an off-duty police officer in California, according to authorities and her relatives.
Gloria Zamora, a mother of seven with more than 150,000 Instagram followers, was murdered on Saturday along with her date, Hector Garduno—a father of four—in the parking lot of a sushi restaurant in Fontana, leaving a total of 11 children without their parents. The shooter was Zamora’s second husband, Thomas Alberto Tamayo Lizarraga, who opened fire just days after she revealed on her podcast, HERizon, that she was ending their relationship.
Jealous Ex-Husband Kills Wife
“They were going through a divorce, that led to this,” Officer Steve Reed with the Fontana Police Department told ABC 7 of the double slaying. “We don’t know how he knew where she was at, but apparently, she had been at the restaurant for approximately an hour prior to the shooting,” Reed added.
According to Reed, several off-duty law enforcement officers were nearby when the shooting broke out, including a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy who was off duty, driving past the shopping center, and saw the incident unfold.
The deputy “made a U-turn at the light, and got out of his vehicle, and confronted the suspect,” Reed said.
Lizarraga was shot dead by the off-duty deputy, whose identity has not yet been revealed.
A fundraising page mentioned that Zamora, 40 “leaves behind 7 beautiful children, ages 8 to 24, who are now facing a future without our mother’s warmth, guidance, and unconditional love.”
Tragic End as Community Devastated
“My mom was senselessly taken from us, she was murdered by my stepdad Tomas, in an act of unimaginable violence,” wrote one of her daughters, Jazlynne Zamora. Jazlynne described her mother as “a light in her community” who “uplifted and inspired countless women.”
“She always said, ‘Women can do anything they set their minds to,’ and she lived those words every day,” she wrote.
Garduno’s children also started a GoFundMe page, describing their father as a “dedicated and hardworking man” whose life was tragically cut short.
Fontana police said that the shooting remains under active investigation.
