Influencer Thought It Was Safe to Date Again — Then Her Ex-Husband Struck, Before an Off-Duty Deputy Stepped In

A popular California fitness influencer and her dinner date were gunned down Monday night by her estranged husband, who was then shot and killed by an off-duty deputy, authorities said. 

Gloria Zamora, a mother of seven boasting more than 150,000 followers on her Instagram where she posted fitness tops and motivational content, was meeting father-of-four Hector Garduno, 43, for sushi, per the Fontana Police Department.

Days earlier, the fitness influencer told listeners on her podcast “HERizon” that she was leaving her second husband, Thomas Alberto Tamayo Lizarraga. 

Lizarraga then gunned down Zamora and her date in the restaurant’s parking lot. 

“There was a male and a female that were estranged; they were going through a divorce, that led to this,” Officer Steve Reed with the Fontana Police Department told ABC 7.

“We don’t know how he knew where she was at, but apparently, she had been at the restaurant for approximately an hour prior to the shooting,” Reed said.

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Several off-duty police officers happened to be in the area when gunshots rang out, including an off-duty sheriff’s deputy with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department who witnessed the shooting as he drove by the shopping center. 

Reed said the deputy “made a U-turn at the light and got out of his vehicle and confronted the suspect.”

The deputy, who has not been named, shot and killed Lizarraga in the confrontation that ensued.

In a GoFundMe page set up for Zamora’s funeral costs, her daughter stated that her mother was murdered by her stepfather “in an act of unimaginable violence.”

“My mom was more than just a mother — she was a light in her community. She uplifted and inspired countless women, reminding them of their worth, their strength, and their potential,” Zamora’s daughter wrote. “She always said, ‘Women can do anything they set their minds to,’ and she lived those words every day. Her courage, kindness, and determination touched the lives of everyone who knew her.”

Garduno’s children characterized their dad as a “devoted and hardworking man that was tragically murdered and gone too soon” in their own GoFundMe initiative.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, per the Fontana Police Department.