Prosecutors release chilling details in Fil-Am delivery driver's death

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IRVINE, California — Charges have been filed and prosecutors have revealed chilling details in the shooting death of Filipino American UPS delivery driver Expedito De Leon.

Prosecutors have charged 46-year-old Rhean Fontanoza with a special circumstance murder eligible for the death penalty for the killing of De Leon, known to his friends and family as "Jay."

Prosecutors said the two were childhood friends who both worked for UPS. They said Fontanoza has been on disability and went to a UPS substation in Aliso Viejo on Thursday, May 16, where he used a computer to look at driver routes.

Fontanoza eventually tracked down De Leon in Irvine, where he drove up next to De Leon’s delivery truck and shot him 14 times in 19 seconds as he was seated in his driver's seat.

Investigators are still trying to figure out the motive.

"Mr. De Leon was just going about his day, doing his job with no idea his longtime friend was stalking him with every intent to kill him," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

"The depravity involved to plot and carry out a plan to execute someone you shared a lifetime of memories [with] is not something anyone of us can wrap our heads around. No life should have to end like this and it is a tragedy that should have never happened," he added.

Fontanoza remains in prison on no bail. While the special circumstance murder charge carries the death penalty, California has had a moratorium pausing death penalties since 2019.

Fontanoza is scheduled to return to court for an arraignment and bail hearing next month.