Left to right: Victim Cuauhtemoc Garcia, Cindy Kim and John Chong Moon (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department).
A pair of siblings from California allegedly had much bigger plans after killing a man so they could sleep in his SUV.
Siblings Cindy Kim, 59, and John Chong Moon, 55, are both charged with second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted robbery in connection with the death of 66-year-old Cuauhtemoc Garcia. Garcia was fatally shot on Feb. 25, 2025, allegedly by Moon when he and his sister tried to force him to hand over the keys to his SUV after he parked it near a bike path in Cerritos, California. According to prosecutors, Kim and Moon wanted the SUV because they were living out of a Toyota Prius, and they wanted a bigger vehicle to sleep in.
But Garcia's alleged murder was only a portion of the plans that Kim and Moon apparently had for improving their living situation.
According to reporting by The Orange County Register, a preliminary hearing was held in early May during which prosecutors alleged that Moon and Kim had plans to kill their older sister, that sister's family, and one of their mother's neighbors. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Detective Yoon Nam reportedly testified during the hearing that police found several notebooks that contained writing by both Moon and Kim that outlined their beliefs about their family members and the steps they were allegedly taking to eliminate them.
In one notebook, Moon reportedly wrote that he and Kim had to "scrape, struggle, struggle to make rent on studio 1 bedroom while (their mother) lives in luxury, comfort lifestyle!" Moon also reportedly wrote that he and Kim were meant to "Get our 'last bastion' of wealth … by any means necessary! Bogart our way back and pressure her to sell the house!"
Nam testified that Moon and Kim also targeted the sister and her family, citing one entry written by Kim in November 2024 that allegedly stated, "We are supposed to order our firearm to take down the [family]." The following month, she allegedly wrote, "Stole some bullets at Sportsman's."
The sister reportedly testified that she had gotten restraining orders to protect their mother from Moon and Kim in 2016 and 2022. The sister said her younger siblings took advantage of their mother and accused them of forging their mother's signature on a deed-transfer document signing over her house. The sister also said Moon then tried to sell their mother's home on Craigslist.
On Feb. 25, 2025, prosecutors said Moon and Kim were on the lookout for a Honda Pilot or a Toyota 4Runner that they could steal and sleep in. They soon saw Garcia's 4Runner pull into the parking lot at Don Knabe Community Regional Park on Bloomfield Avenue in Cerritos. After Garcia left the vehicle to take a walk on the bike path, they allegedly made their move. The siblings allegedly followed Garcia, and Moon held him at gunpoint while the pair demanded he hand over his keys. When Garcia refused, Moon allegedly gunned him down.
Prosecutors said that Kim wrote in one of her notebooks, "Dirty deed Cerritos Bloomfield" on the day Garcia was killed.
A witness told police that he saw two people matching the siblings' description dumping Garcia's body in a dirt embankment.
Surveillance video captured Moon and Kim near the area, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department asked the public for help identifying them. An anonymous tipster believed the pair were the same people from a viral TikTok video, in which Moon and Kim reportedly hurled racial slurs at customers at a Panera Bread restaurant. Local Fox affiliate KTTV said the video was taken just days before Garcia's homicide.
Moon's defense attorney said during the hearing his client had "a variety of medical and mental health conditions." He also said his client told undercover police that he was "just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Moon and Kim were taken into custody on March 9, 2025. Moon is additionally charged with evading a peace officer and two misdemeanor counts of unlawful firearm activity. They are both being held without bail. Both siblings are due back in court on July 22.
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