Victim: Alonzo Foster
On July 20, 2008, Alonzo Foster, Jr. was shot to death allegedly by Jesus Sesena-Murrieta, an illegal alien from Mexico.
Alonzo and ten family members, including his parents, Alonzo, Sr. and Sandy Foster, were spending their Sunday afternoon swimming in Lick Creek outside of Mammoth, Missouri. Around 4:00 pm, they were getting ready to grill hot dogs on the shore beside the water.
The owner of the property, Alicia Sanders, accompanied by her son-in-law, Sesena-Murrieta, approached the Foster family and asked them to get off of her land. The family had picnicked at the same spot “thousands of times” without seeing a no-trespassing sign. The Fosters agreed to leave and “suddenly they heard their son getting shot behind them a few feet away”. (1)
Ozark County Sheriff Raymond Pace described an argument between Alonzo, Jr. and Sesena-Murrieta, during which Sesena-Murrieta pulled out a .38 caliber snub-nosed pistol and shot Alonzo, Jr. four times. Sesena-Murrieta fled the scene.
One witness stated Alonzo asked Murrieta what was wrong and he shoved Alonzo. Alonzo shoved back and Murrieta tripped backward, pulled a gun and began firing. Alonzo kept reaching toward him. The witness suspected he was trying to get the gun to protect the rest of the swimming party. (2)
The victim's mother testified she ran to her son's side after the shooting. "He turned around and said, "Mama, I love you". Then he passed out.
“My brother is 22 years old. He just didn’t do anything wrong,” Alonzo’s sister, Christina, said. (1)
Alonzo Foster, Jr. died around 10:30 pm at Baxter Regional Medical Center. Two hundred friends were at the hospital that night, including Alonzo’s former high school principle, Bobby Hulse. Hulse said, “He was a really good student. He was just a really, really good kid who would do anything in the world you would want him to do.” (1) At 6’5”, Alonzo played basketball and loved the game, excelling in high school and playing college ball.
Sesena-Murrieta is held without bond and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Ozark County jail. Sheriff Pace took Sesena-Murrieta’s statement in Spanish so “there will be no misunderstanding at all. He can’t come back later and say, “I don’t understand the English language.” (3)
A change of venue was granted for Sesena-Murrieta on October 7, 2008. According to his attorneys, he had received death threats. (4)
Perpetrator: Jesus Sesena-Murrieta 1. Area man shot four times, dies
2. Man to face trail in shooting death at popular Missouri swimming hole
3. Illegal Immi____GRANT Faces Murder Charges in Ozark County
4. Judge relocates Ozark County murder case