Three years to the day after 18-year-old Brittany Gutierrez-Bugarin was shot and killed on Interstate 10, her mother is opening a taco shop in central Phoenix, turning a day of grief into a grand opening. Esmeralda Bugarin plans to hold the grand opening of Baja Taco Mami on Saturday, transforming the anniversary of her daughter's death into a celebration of a new chapter for their family.
Gutierrez-Bugarin was riding in a car with her boyfriend on I-10 near 83rd Avenue in Phoenix when she was shot during an early morning road rage incident on August 15, 2023, according to her family, as reported by ABC15. Investigators with Silent Witness say the fatal shooting happened at approximately 12:38 a.m. on westbound I-10 between 75th and 83rd Avenues, with the suspect vehicle continuing westbound and possibly exiting at 83rd Avenue, according to Silent Witness. The case remains filed under Silent Witness case number 2023-4031, with investigators still searching for an unknown male driver in a silver or gray Chrysler — possibly a Chrysler 200 or Sebring — with black rims.
“It's so hard thinking that three years ago this day, before work I went to her room and I told her, ‘good morning, mi amor, I'm going to work.’ And that was the last,” Esmeralda Bugarin told the station. Gutierrez-Bugarin had graduated high school just months earlier, in May 2023, and was enrolling in an esthetics program with plans to become a small business owner like her mother, per 12News. Her sister, Alexa Torres, described the abruptness of the loss to the same station covering the family's ordeal.
A Restaurant Born From Grief and Community Support
“She was out and about, you know, having the time of her life. Knowing that that's how she was, and knowing that it just stopped, it's been really hard,” Torres said, per ABC15. Baja Taco Mami sits at Thomas Road and 3rd Avenue, in a space that was previously a Maskadores Taco Shop location where Esmeralda Bugarin worked for years as an employee before gaining ownership and rebranding it, according to a post on Facebook.
The grand opening will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Phoenix digital media collective ItsAllPhoenix organized a viral social media push encouraging community members to surprise Esmeralda Bugarin by packing the restaurant at 11 a.m., urging locals to support the small business during its 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. opening hours, per the same Facebook post. Community members have been spreading word online in the days leading up to the event, and the family says the outpouring of support has meant a great deal.
“We're really happy and thankful that these people came into our lives,” Torres said, according to ABC15's report. Esmeralda Bugarin has spoken of feeling her daughter's presence as she builds this new chapter. “I know she's with me all the times, because I feel her presence,” she said.
Case Remains Unsolved Despite $7,500 Reward
Arizona Department of Public Safety has not announced any arrests in the shooting, and the family says they still have no answers three years later. Silent Witness is offering a reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to an arrest in the case. The program, administered by Phoenix Police Department personnel, typically sets standard felony rewards at up to $2,000, though that amount can be expanded through supplemental agreements with private donors or partner groups, according to the City of Phoenix. Tips must be submitted directly through Silent Witness before any arrest or indictment, and all tips remain anonymous.
The unsolved case fits into a broader pattern of escalating freeway violence across the Phoenix area. Arizona road rage crashes doubled from roughly 500 per year to more than 1,000 annually between 2020 and 2024, while annual road rage fatalities doubled from three to six, according to state-level data cited in a YouTube report. A 2023 nationwide survey by Forbes designated Arizona as the state with the most aggressive and confrontational drivers in the country, with more than 80% of Arizona drivers reporting being yelled at or threatened, according to KTAR.
No Standalone Road Rage Law in Arizona
Arizona does not have a standalone road rage statute. Under Arizona Revised Statutes Section 28-695, aggressive driving requires proof of excessive speeding alongside at least two other moving violations, such as tailgating or unsafe lane changes, and is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and $2,500 in fines, according to Oliverson Law. Because that statute doesn't cover shootings like the one that killed Gutierrez-Bugarin, prosecutors in cases involving gunfire typically pursue drive-by shooting or assault charges instead.
Law enforcement agencies across Maricopa County, including Arizona DPS, have deployed unmarked patrol units, established designated safety corridors, and partnered with local cities to run electronic billboard tip campaigns along I-10 in an effort to combat freeway violence, per a report cited by Phillips Law Group. Hoodline previously covered the family's two-year plea for information in the case, and the shooter's identity remains unknown as the third anniversary arrives alongside this weekend's grand opening.
