Suspect Arrested in 2019 Santa Ana Killing

Santa Ana police have arrested a suspect in the 2019 killing of 20-year-old Adrian Real, a case that had gone unsolved for more than six years. (ktla.com) Detectives said officers were called around 2:30 a.m. on November 22, 2019, to the Waterstone Park Apartments in the 2800 block of North Bristol Street. They found Real in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds, and he later died at a hospital. (abc7.com) Police said the family’s dog was also shot and killed, and Real’s car was missing after the attack. Early reports described the vehicle as a black 2012 Volkswagen Jetta with California plate 7FJR193. (cbsnews.com) The arrest was announced on April 21, 2026, after investigators received an anonymous tip, according to Santa Ana police and local reports. Police have not publicly identified a motive or said whether the suspect knew Real. (newsantaana.com) That leaves the case in a narrow but important stage: police say the investigation is still active even after the arrest. Detectives are continuing to gather evidence ahead of the suspect’s first court appearance. (aol.com) Real was a graduate of Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, and his killing remained one of Santa Ana’s unresolved homicide cases for years. Santa Ana police had continued to spotlight the case publicly before the arrest. (yahoo.com) Santa Ana police have not released the suspect’s name in the public reports now available, and Orange County court records pages show only how criminal calendars can be searched, not a confirmed case entry tied to the arrest from the information released so far. (occourts.org) The next public details are likely to come in court, where prosecutors and police can begin laying out what they believe happened in the apartment complex parking lot before dawn on November 22, 2019. (ktla.com)