Panama-Buena Vista Union teacher arrested in connection with Pearl St. murder

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) – Margarita Lopez was shot and killed on Pearl St. on April 19th. The man was arrested and placed on administrative leave in connection with the Panama Buena Vista Union School District shooting.

The video shows Margarita Lopez’s family remembering her at their favorite bakery
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office arrested Paul Magallanes in connection with the April 19 shooting.
Magallanes worked for the Panama-Buena Vista School District through the Alternative Education Program and said he has been placed on administrative leave since his arrest.

Margarita Lopez, 38, was killed in a shooting here on Pearl Street.
Her family plans to hold a memorial service for her on Wednesday and they want to see justice in laying her to rest.

She had a sweet tooth and a sweetheart.

This is what loved ones remember Margarita or “Maggy” Lopez.

“We would always see her walking around on her Snapchat and I’m like, ‘Oh, she’s working out.’ No, she came to his bakery,” said Deysey Guerra, Lopez’s sister-in-law.

Her sisters Sandy Camarena and Frances Bocanegra and Guerra sat at their favorite local bakery and shared pastries in her memory as they prepared for her memorial service Wednesday.

“A lot of people described her as a nice, friendly person,” Bocanegra said.

Camarena says she was with Lopez at the time of the incident as they picked up Lopez’s husband and children from her brother-in-law’s house.

“As soon as they left, Paul came down and yelled at my sister down the stairs into the street and said, ‘You bitch.’ “You idiot started calling her all sorts of racist epithets,” she recalls.

She claims Paul Magallanes, Lopez’s brother-in-law, was upset that she left with the children.

“He fired the gun when a 12-year-old was on the street,” she said.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office arrested Paul Magallanes in connection with the April 19 shooting.

Camarena tells me that Magallanes shot her twice.

“When I ran to her, I just dropped to the floor and put her on my lap,” Camarena recalled. “When I put her on my lap, I just held her and tried to stop the bleeding, but there wasn’t much I could do.”

Magallanes worked for the Panama-Buena Vista School District through the Alternative Education Program and said he has been placed on administrative leave since his arrest.

The district’s Chantel Stansberry released a statement saying, “We understand the shock and concern this news may cause for our school community.” Allegations of this nature are troubling and do not reflect the high professional standards of our programs or the Panama School District -Buena Vista Union reflected.”