Suspect in deadly shooting on Metro bus charged with murder

The Los Angeles County Attorney on Monday announced the charge against the suspect accused of killing a Metro passenger in Commerce.

"This tragic and senseless shooting claimed the life of a beloved husband and father innocently riding on a Metro bus," District Attorney George Gascón said. "This heartbreaking incident comes on the heels of recent violent acts targeting innocent Metro passengers and a driver."

Prosecutors charged 30-year-old Winston Apolinario Rivera with one count of murder accompanied by a special allegation of the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime. If convicted as charged, he faces 35 years to life in prison.

The deadly shooting happened on May 17 inside a Metro bus in the 6200 block of Slauson Avenue. Rivera entered the bus and sat behind Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez. When the bus stopped, Rivera allegedly followed Gomez-Ramirez to the exit and shot him in the head, instantly killing him.

Prosecutors said he ran off the bus and hid under a train until deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department found him.

Rivera's arraignment was scheduled for May 20.

Gomez-Ramirez and his wife worked as teachers before they traveled to the United States with their child. He was on his way home from his new job at a packing warehouse in Commerce when he died.

"Everybody who met him and knew him loved him," wife Sarahi Varela Lopez said in Spanish.

Lopez's attorney said she wants justice for her husband.

"She wants to stay here because she wants justice," attorney Mario Acosta Jr. "She wants justice for her husband. She wants to see the man who killed him pay the price."