Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SAN DIEGO – Man was sentenced to life without parole plus 35 years, $18,700 in fines and victim restitution for the shooting death of woman who was returning home from church in Escondido, California.

Dionicio Crespin Torrez Jr., 25, of Escondido, was sentenced yesterday for the murder Catherine Kennedy, which occurred on March 7, 2017. Torrez, a documented gang member, shot at a rival group that was involved in tagging the Pepperwood Complex in Escondido. None of the group was shot but Kennedy was struck with a bullet in her head as she was driving by the area.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with Escondido Police Department gathered casings from the crime scene and entered them into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), an automated ballistic imaging network that compares expended casing from firearms. NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. It provides investigators with the ability to compare their ballistics evidence against evidence from other violent crimes on a local, regional and national level, thus generating investigative links that would rarely be revealed absent the technology.

Casings from another shooting scene involving Torrez were provided and entered into NIBIN. A match was generated linking the otherwise unassociated crimes scenes providing investigators with a lead to target Torrez before he could reoffend. Investigators tracked Torrez approximately 10 hours north of Escondido and took him into custody.

“These violent senseless killings will not be tolerated,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge of Los Angeles Field Division Bill McMullan. “ATF works side-by-side with its local law enforcement partners to identify, target, and eradicate the trigger pullers in our communities. The tragic killing of Mrs. Kennedy cannot be reversed. However, the community can rest assured that this gang member will not be able to hurt anyone else.”

For more information, follow ATF LAFD on Twitter @LosangelesAtf.

###