Fitness trainer and influencer Gloria Zamora appeared on a podcast where she shared about her fitness, her children, and her pending divorce. Less than a week after the second part of the episode went live, Zamora and her date were gunned down by her husband, authorities said.
Zamora, 40, and Hector Garduno, 43, were sharing a meal at a sushi restaurant on Summit Avenue in Fontana on Saturday, June 21.
Zamora’s estranged husband, Tomas Alberto Tamayo Lizarraga, shot the couple in the restaurant parking lot, Fontana police spokesperson Sgt. Nathan Weiske said.
“He had to be following her in some way, just because Gloria and Tomas were from Perris, and Hector was from Fontana,” Weiske said.
The motive remains under investigation, but police said the couple’s pending divorce most likely played a role. It is unclear whether there was a history of reported violence or if a restraining order had been in place.
In clips from her recent podcast appearance, Zamora said her husband had been unfaithful during their marriage and unsupportive of her career ambitions.
Zamora had amassed 163,000 followers on Instagram, where she posted fitness advice, motivational content, and snapshots of her journey as a coach and parent. In her bio, she described herself as a fitness trainer with more than ten years of experience helping busy moms get in shape.
Several off-duty law enforcement officers were in the area at the time of the shooting, including a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy.
“He was driving by the commercial complex and saw the shootings transpire,” Weiske said. “He parked his car and ran to confront the shooter.”
During the confrontation, Lizarraga was shot and killed. He appeared to have been running back to his car after shooting the two victims.
Garduno leaves behind four daughters, according to a GoFundMe page created in his name. A fundraiser has also been launched for Zamora, to support the six children she left behind, according to her Instagram bio.
An average of more than 70 women per month in the U.S. were shot and killed by intimate partners, according to an analysis of CDC data from 2020 and 2022 by Everytown Research.
Anyone experiencing or at risk of domestic violence can obtain help by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233