Record Store Owner Is Shot to Death
SANTA ANA — Minutes after record store merchant Piedad Michel Preciado opened her shop of nine years for business Saturday she was gunned down by two men in an apparent robbery attempt, police said.
Fatally wounded, the 50-year-old mother of three staggered about seven steps outside the Discoteca Guadalajara at 2100 S. Bristol Street before she collapsed on the sidewalk where one of her employees came upon her.
Police said the attack happened at 10:15 a.m. as Preciado was cleaning the store’s glass display cases. The two men confronted her, shooting her once in the head, according to Sgt. Dick Faust.
The two suspects fled in a late 1960s or early 1970s model described as a beige, two-door compact hatchback with zebra-patterned seat covers, Faust said. Investigators have not determined if the men took anything from the store, but said robbery was the likely motive for the killing.
Preciado was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where she was pronounced dead.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.