Juan Bautista Mejia Arias, 39, was fatally shot on the evening of June 6, 2018, at the intersection of Hampshire and Alder Streets in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Police arrived around 6:20 p.m. after reports of shots fired and found Mejia Arias with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses and surveillance video showed Mejia Arias leaving a bodega with groceries and crossing the street when a black Hyundai Santa Fe with Pennsylvania plates pulled up. One person reportedly exited the vehicle from the back seat and fired multiple shots before the vehicle fled. Investigators later identified a suspect.

In August 2019 an Essex County grand jury indicted 21-year-old Anderson Jorge Cruz of Lowell for the murder. Cruz was already in federal custody on drug trafficking charges from a January 2019 arrest. In January 2020 he was arraigned in Salem Superior Court and ordered held without bail pending a pre-trial conference.

If anyone witnessed the shooting or has information about the vehicle or occupants, please share what is known with investigators.