Blanca Guzman Bartolon, 30, was shot to death late on Sunday, September 21, 2025, in the 1400 block of 12th Avenue West in Palmetto, Florida. Officers responding around 11:30 p.m. found her in a driveway, unresponsive from a gunshot wound.

Minutes before the shooting Guzman Bartolon had contacted two friends asking them to pick her up, saying her boyfriend was armed and acting aggressively. When the friends arrived they encountered the boyfriend outside the home; he opened fire toward them and toward Guzman Bartolon. The two witnesses fled and Guzman Bartolon was struck and killed.

A search that included the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team and an aviation unit located a man hiding at the Manatee County Fairgrounds; he was taken into custody without incident and a handgun believed to be the murder weapon was recovered nearby. Police identified the suspect as 25-year-old Cilas Roblero Morales, who was booked into the Manatee County Jail on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or knew Blanca, please share what you can.