California siblings planned to kill family to get rich, detectives say
A California brother and sister who are accused of killing a man for his SUV were also planning a murder spree to improve their financial situation, detectives alleged in court. John Chong Moon, 55, and Cindy Kim, 59, of La Palma thought killing their sister and her family, along with a neighbor of their mother's, would elevate them to a life of luxury, prosecutors allege.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were first alerted to the strange case on Feb. 25, 2025. Shortly after noon, local businessman Cuauhtemoc Garcia, 66, parked his SUV along the Coyote Creek Bikeway in Cerritos. He planned to take a walk along the trail, but he was soon approached by two people who demanded his car keys, prosecutors say. When he refused to hand them over, Garcia was shot and killed in broad daylight.
LASD detectives tracked down CCTV in the area which showed a man and a woman near the crime scene. An image was distributed through the media, and police received an anonymous tip that the pair looked similar to a couple who went viral in a TikTok clip. That clip, filmed by a Florida influencer visiting Southern California, showed a man and a woman directing racial slurs at customers at a Panera Bread.
Using the clues from the videos, detectives arrested Moon and Kim about a week after Garcia's death. Now, after a preliminary hearing was held in May, more details have emerged from the investigation.
A transcript of the hearing, obtained by the Southern California News Group, included testimony from LASD detectives involved with the case. They said that when Moon and Kim were arrested, they were living out of a 2018 Prius, and the car contained multiple diaries kept by the pair. In one entry, Moon allegedly wrote he was sick of the "scrape, struggle, struggle to make rent" while his mother lived in "luxury, comfort and lifestyle." Entries allegedly laid out their plan to kill their older sister and her family, including mention of ordering a gun and stealing bullets from a Sportsman's Warehouse.
That older sister also testified at the hearing, Southern California News Group reported. She testified she helped her mother file multiple restraining orders against her siblings, and that the pair had tried to sell her mother's home on Craigslist and forge signatures on documents.
Detectives said Moon and Kim killed Garcia because they wanted to sleep in a bigger car than their Prius. One detective testified that Kim wrote, "Dirty deed Cerritos Bloomfield" in her diary on the day Garcia died.
Jail records show Moon and Kim are being held without bail and are due back in Norwalk Superior Court on July 22. If convicted of murder and attempted second-degree robbery, they face life in a state prison.
"This was a senseless and brutal act of violence that took the life of a husband, father and businessman who simply wanted to enjoy a peaceful walk," LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a press release. "My sympathies go out to his family as they grieve this unimaginable loss. We will pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law to hold those responsible accountable."
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