A young TikTok star who was on life support after he and a friend were shot at a southern California movie theater has died, police and his family said.
Anthony Barajas, 19, was watching The Forever Purge at a theater in Corona with Rylee Goodrich, 18, on Monday when they were both shot in the head. They were found by an employee after the last showing of the night.
Goodrich died at the scene. Barajas was taken to hospital, where he was placed on life support.
Known online as itsanthonymichael, Barajas had nearly a million followers on TikTok and more on other platforms.
The suspect acted alone and there is no indication he knew the victims or that Barajas’ role as a TikTok influencer played a role in the crime, Corona police Cpl Tobias Kouroubacalis told reporters last week.
“It was completely unprovoked and the victims were shot without any kind of prior contact,” Kouroubacalis said.
Police were working with Riverside county prosecutors to add a second murder count against the suspect, Joseph Jimenez.
Jimenez, 20, appeared in court on Friday after being charged with murder in the death of Goodrich and attempted murder of Barajas. He did not enter a plea and his arraignment was postponed.
Prosecutors also charged Jimenez with a special circumstance of lying in wait that makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted as charged. Jimenez has been jailed since his arrest. It was not clear if he had retained an attorney.
Barajas was a high school honor student, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
“From his quick smile to his compassionate heart, Anthony’s presence was a gift to all who knew him,” his family said in a statement.
