Inset: Daniel C. Ruesga (KUTV). Background: The area in Utah where Ruesga allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend (Google Maps).
A 37-year-old man in Utah is accused of killing his girlfriend, allegedly ramming his pickup into the victim's Tesla while she was behind the wheel before he exited the truck and shot her several times, leaving her body to be found by her four children.
Police took Daniel Castro Ruesga into custody and booked him into the Tooele County Jail on one count of murder, four counts of criminal homicide with domestic violence in the presence of a child, and one count of improper discharge of a firearm.
According to a press release from the Tooele City Police Department, officers responded just before midnight Aug. 31 to several reports of shots fired in the 600 block of E. Kings Landing Road near Emma Lane.
"Upon arrival, officers located a white Tesla inside of the garage with a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck crashed into the rear of the Tesla," police wrote in a probable cause affidavit obtained by Gephardt Daily. "Officers located bullet casings outside of the driver-side door of the Tesla with a deceased female located in the driver's seat."
Ruesga, the registered owner of the Toyota pickup, told officers that "a firearm was left in his vehicle." Police subsequently placed him under arrest.
Ruesga allegedly confessed to the murder shortly afterward.
"Ruesga was later interviewed and, post-Miranda warning, admitted to intentionally crashing into the vehicle and shooting the victim with a handgun multiple times after an argument," the affidavit states. "The victim's four children were inside the home at the time and heard the entire incident, later finding their mother deceased."
Police did not release the victim's name, but Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL identified her as 37-year-old Silvia Bahena.
Authorities transported Ruesga to the Tooele County Jail, where he was booked and is being held without bond. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court.
The arrest comes after Ruesga resolved a separate domestic violence-related misdemeanor case earlier this year involving damage to the property of someone with whom he lived, according to Salt Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV. The station reported that Ruesga received a plea in abeyance and six months of probation, along with an order to undergo an anger-management evaluation and complete any recommended treatment.
It was not clear whether the victim of the previous domestic violence case, which formally closed March 3, 2026, was the same woman who was killed.
The Tooele Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.
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