SIMI VALLEY : Police Search for Motive in Slaying

Ventura County sheriff’s investigators said Tuesday they believe that a Simi Valley landscaper who was shot to death on his way to work last week was the victim of a planned slaying and not random violence.

Unable to find any suspects thus far, investigators are searching for a motive they can link to specific assailants.

“Right now, what we’re trying to look at is a motive, because it does appear that it wasn’t a random shooting--they were looking for this individual,” Sheriff’s Lt. Kathy Kemp said.

Jose Villafuerte Flores, 25, was driving to work in the exclusive Lexington Hills development north of Thousand Oaks early Friday when four men approached in a red compact car and blocked his path. One of the men got out with a small-caliber handgun and fired several shots at Flores through the open driver’s side window.

Co-workers drove Flores to Pleasant Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about a half hour after being shot. An autopsy conducted Saturday listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the chest, and Kemp said the victim was struck by gunfire three or four times in the upper body.

Family members last week speculated that the attack may have stemmed from an altercation at a party for one of Flores’ nieces earlier this month. They said Flores had stopped a gang member from fighting with another party-goer and wondered whether the killing was in retaliation for the interference.

Kemp said Tuesday that investigators are looking into the party and the confrontation as a possible motive in the slaying.