RODEO — About 10 minutes before she was shot and killed, 28-year-old Daniella Avila stopped by the BevBox on Parker Avenue, picked up some items, then got back into a black BMW and headed off toward a nearby apartment building.
Avila, a Concord resident, was simply going about her business, and gave off no indication that anything was amiss. But someone was watching her that night, and when she hung a left on Parker Avenue towards the Rodeo waterfront, another vehicle seemed to take note and changed direction to follow, authorities said.
Whoever was trailing Avila on the night of Aug. 26, 2023 is probably responsible for what happened next. Police say that she was shot in the neck by a rifle, surviving long enough to make it to a nearby resident’s front door in an apparent attempt to seek help just a few minutes before succumbing to her injury.
In the two years since then, police have interviewed friends and family in a thus-far fruitless attempt to explain why anyone would want Avila dead. She had no known enemies, wasn’t involved in any apparent crimes, and few even knew she planned to come into Rodeo that night. Now, the Contra Costa Sheriff’s has put out notice to the public asking for tips, writing in a news release on the two-year anniversary of her death that they’re still seeking “Justice for Daniella.”
Avila worked at an auto collision company owned by a family member, and also made shifts at a local restaurant, authorities said. She left behind a 7-year-old son and was dating a man in his early 20s who frequented Rodeo and North Richmond, and who’d made plans to see her that night.
The plan was to simply hang out at a residence at the Bayo Vista public housing around 10 p.m. that night after the two had hung out earlier in the day and parted ways around three hours earlier. Avila drove up in a BMW — one she’d borrowed from a friend but which looked exactly like her own vehicle — and stopped at the liquor store on her way over.
She was shot on her near Vaqueros Avenue on her way to the apartments. After the shooting, her boyfriend texted her that he heard shots, and Avila inexplicably wrote back, “it’s good,” according to investigators. Authorities believe she may have been in shock.
Avila then drove to the 100 block of Rodeo Avenue — several blocks in the opposite direction from where she’d been heading — and ended up at another apartment complex, where a resident saw her and called 911. When deputies were processing the scene, Avila’s boyfriend walked up and talked to the, later claiming he was at the end of Parker Avenue with a friend, waiting for Avila, when he heard the shots that killed her.
Avila’s boyfriend gave no indication that he knew who was responsible or why, and authorities haven’t ever publicly named a suspect. Investigators have sought various leads, including hopes that a rifle seized in an Alameda County shooting investigation shortly thereafter would prove to be the murder weapon, but so far nothing has panned out.
Witnesses told police that two vehicles had been seen driving around Rodeo, shortly before the homicide, acting suspiciously. At least one of them is believed to also be the car containing Avila’s killer, but investigators haven’t determined who was inside or where the vehicle ended up, authorities said.
Police are urging anyone with information to contact Contra Costa Sheriff’s Det. Amy Kotchevar at 925-313-2633. Tips can be left by emailing [email protected] or calling 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.