Hunting for Humans in Stockton

Suspected Serial Killer Wesley Brownlee Arrested While Searching for His Next Victim

Wesley Brownlee booking photo, courtesy of Stockton Police Department
  • April 10, 2021: Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was shot multiple times in Oakland, California, at about 4:15 a.m. Three daughters, ages ten to seventeen, are now without a father.
  • April 16, 2021: Forty-six-year-old Natasha LaTour told law enforcement that she was in her tent in Stockton around 3 a.m. when she heard noises and went outside to investigate. Without saying a word to her, a man wearing dark clothes, a hood, and a black face mask shot her several times. She was lucky to survive.
  • July 8, 2022: Thirty-five-year-old Paul Yaw was ambushed at a park. He left behind a young son, William, and a devastated mom.
  • August 11, 2022: Forty-three-year-old Salvador Debudey Jr. was shot in a parking lot just before 10:00 p.m. He was a father of a fourteen-year-old daughter and a wife of twelve years.
  • August 30. 2022: Twenty-one-year-old Stockton native Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, the youngest victim, was gunned down while sitting inside his car at 6:41 a.m.
  • September 21, 2022: Juan Cruz, 52, was fatally shot in his car at an apartment complex. His devastated mother set up a memorial near the parking spot where he died.
  • September 27, 2022: Fifty-four-year-old Lawrence “Lorenzo” Lopez was shot in a residential area just north of downtown, leaving behind grieving parents and six children aged sixteen to thirty-eight.

Here’s What We Think We Know About Wesley Brownlee

Brownlee was born in San Francisco. He grew up in an apartment in Oakland until he and his mother moved to Stockton when he was eighteen. His parents lived together on and off for sixteen years but split up when Brownlee was in his early teens.

What Stands Out

The case against Wesley Brownlee is evolving. We don’t know all the facts. It’s hard to separate rumor from the truth, especially when trying to get a sense of an accused perpetrator’s background. Virtually everything is tainted by the crimes of which he is accused.

What’s the Evidence Against Him?

Law enforcement has cited video evidence and ballistics tests as evidence of Brownlee’s guilt. Once Brownlee appeared on investigators’ radar (due to community tips), a surveillance team began following him whenever he got behind the wheel. They noted his behavioral patterns were eerily similar to previous reconnaissance and attacks. They also say that when he was arrested, Brownlee was wearing dark clothing, a black surgical mask around his neck, and was carrying a gun. These are things the serial murderer also did.

The Bottom Line

We will know much more about these murders as the criminal case unfolds — about motives and triggers and guilt or innocence. What we already know, though, is that children have senselessly lost fathers, a community has been needlessly terrorized, and innocent lives have been stolen.

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Forensic psychologist/private investigator//author of serial killer book. Passionate about victim’s rights, the psychology of true crime, and criminal justice.

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Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D.

Forensic psychologist/private investigator//author of serial killer book. Passionate about victim’s rights, the psychology of true crime, and criminal justice.