On the night of March 3, 2022, 30-year-old Yanira Cedillos was celebrating her birthday in Moses Lake, Washington. Her ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old Juan Ismael Gastelum Jr. (also known as Johnny Trujillo), repeatedly called and messaged her while pretending to be out of town on vacation to make her jealous. Gastelum drove from Hermiston, Oregon to Moses Lake, picked Cedillos up near the 900 block of N. Stratford Road, and accompanied her to her apartment at Heron Creek Apartments. Evidence indicated Cedillos was killed inside her apartment shortly after arriving around midnight. Gastelum moved her body into his vehicle, cleaned out his car at a local gas station at around 7:30 a.m. on March 4, and disposed of her body in a remote area of Walla Walla County near Wallula Junction. When questioned by Moses Lake Police Department detectives, Gastelum initially claimed Cedillos walked away safely and attempted to deflect suspicion onto her children's father. However, investigators discovered explicit photos on Gastelum's cell phone depicting Cedillos unconscious or deceased. Gastelum was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree rape. On March 3, 2026, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with sexual motivation and was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 244 months (approximately 20.3 years) in prison.
Country: United States
State/Province: Washington, United States
City/Region: Moses Lake
Incident Type: Domestic Violence Homicide
Relationship Status: Ex-partners
Relationship Duration: Approximately 2 years
Incident Date: March 4, 2022
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 2 years
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2022-03-04
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Controversial Crimes Media · Original language: English
Narcissistic Ex Kills Girlfriend, Claims She Scratched Him First
Domestic Violence
The relationship exhibited a classic severe domestic violence escalation pattern characterized by toxic jealousy, coercive control, obsessive monitoring, past physical assault, and persistent post-breakup harassment. Juan Gastelum refused to accept Yanira Cedillos ending their relationship, utilizing mind games, fake social media accounts, and unexpected appearances to disrupt her independence. When Cedillos attempted to move on and celebrated her 30th birthday, Gastelum's weaponized jealousy and obsessive drive to intercede escalated to lethal violence inside her apartment.
Juan Gastelum was interrogated by Moses Lake Police Department detectives. Despite presenting a prolonged narrative minimizing his violence and claiming Cedillos was alive when he left her, police searched his phone and discovered explicit photos depicting Cedillos unconscious or deceased in her apartment. Video surveillance captured Gastelum cleaning his car at a local gas station around 7:30 a.m. on March 4, 2022. Her body was eventually recovered in a remote area of Walla Walla County near Wallula Junction off Highway 12. On March 3, 2026, Gastelum pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with sexual motivation and was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 244 months (approx. 20.3 years) in prison.
During initial questioning, Gastelum attempted to confuse investigators by offering alternative theories, specifically suggesting that Yanira's ex/baby daddy in Wenatchee might have harmed her or that she walked off to a friend's house. Gastelum also falsely portrayed the interaction as mutually affectionate and consensual sex before she locked the door behind him. Forensics and phone evidence quickly dismantled these claims.
Investigative evidence reconstructed that Gastelum traveled from Hermiston to Moses Lake late on March 3, 2022, picked up an intoxicated Cedillos near a commercial parking lot, and went to her Heron Creek apartment. Shortly after arrival, Gastelum murdered Cedillos inside her residence, taking explicit photographs of her unconscious or dead body. He moved her body into his vehicle during early morning hours, cleaned his car at a gas station around 7:30 a.m., drove to Walla Walla County to dump her body, and spent the remainder of the day making misleading phone calls and going to local bars to establish an alibi.
The risk factors prior to the homicide were extremely high. They included a documented history of domestic violence police calls (October 2021 and January 2022), victim requests for a restraining order, physical violence (hitting with shoes, pushing into objects), persistent post-separation stalking, intense jealousy regarding potential romantic rivals, substance/alcohol involvement during high-conflict encounters, and extreme deceptive covering behavior.
This case highlights the lethal lethality of persistent post-separation domestic stalking and control. It underscores the critical importance of digital forensic extraction during police interrogations, as photo evidence on the suspect's device directly contradicted his elaborate alibi and established the reality of the homicide.
Early warning signs included repeated obsessive phone calls, mind games (pretending to be out of town to trigger jealousy), showing up unannounced, physical domestic calls to police in late 2021/early 2022, and victim fears of being caught outside by him.
Key clues included suspicious car cleaning video captured at a gas station at 7:30 a.m. on March 4, timeline inconsistencies between Gastelum's claims and victim phone activity, and explicit photos discovered on Gastelum's phone showing the victim non-responsive.
The strongest evidence types were digital photos on Gastelum's phone showing Cedillos unconscious/dead, surveillance video of car cleaning and movements, physical crime scene evidence at Heron Creek Apartments, and the ultimate recovery of Cedillos's body in Walla Walla County.
During interrogation, Gastelum minimized his past abuse ('I never punched her... I would just push her off me where she would fall and hit something') and tried to portray Cedillos as abusive ('she was pretty abusive too with me'). He claimed they had consensual sex and she locked the door after him, which was disproved by forensic evidence.
Initial missing person reports rapidly transformed into a murder investigation when detectives found physical evidence of violence inside her apartment and incriminating photographs on Gastelum's phone. Subsequent search efforts located her remains in Walla Walla County, leading to Gastelum's guilty plea in March 2026.
There are no major unresolved factual elements regarding offender identity or cause of death, as Gastelum pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with sexual motivation and received a 244-month prison sentence.