Family: Slain Oxnard ‘A-Burger’ cook, Richard Madera, was 'nicest guy ever'

The victim of Oxnard’s latest homicide is being remembered as a family man with a sense of humor who was always happy to go to work.

Richard Madera, 32, was shot late Saturday in front of his home in the 3000 block of Merced Place in southeast Oxnard. 

It was a house he’d only lived in for a month, according to his uncle.

Callers reported hearing gunshots around 9:11 p.m. Saturday in the neighborhood south of Channel Islands Boulevard and west of Rice Avenue. First responders tried to save him, but Madera died at the scene with gunshot wounds to the torso, according to authorities. The shooting was ruled a homicide.

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Police have offered no information about how or why the shooting unfolded.

“There is no indication that he was involved in a fight,” police Sgt. Scott Aaron said Wednesday, adding that police were not looking for any suspects in the neighborhood prior to the shooting, either.

Madera was the lead cook at A-Burger, 155 S. Oxnard Blvd.

He was “the nicest guy ever,” said his uncle Jesse Bustillos, who owns the restaurant where Madera had worked for eight years.

“He was very funny, welcoming, smiley and always happy to go to work,” Bustillos said. 

He said he’d never seen his nephew angry or in a bad mood and that Madera “could light up a room.”

He loved kids, Bustillos said, and had two young ones of his own – Derrick, 1, and Ryan, 5 months  — who survive him, as does his partner, Loren Gutierrez.

Madera was born and raised in Oxnard and played football at Oxnard High School, according to his uncle. 

He was a fan of the Dodgers, Lakers and Raiders, Bustillos said.

Whenever he had free time, he would watch games with his kids and Gutierrez, his uncle said.

He’d only recently moved to the home where he was slain, his uncle said. 

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“He used to live with his aunt for eight years, and when his second kid was born, he decided to move on with his life and get settled down” to concentrate on his family, his uncle said. 

A Rosary service for Madera is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at Garcia Mortuary, 629 South A St., with a burial Mass at 9 a.m. Oct. 18 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 500 N. Juanita Ave. Interment will be at Santa Clara Cemetery, 2370 North H St. 

A GoFundMe account has been set up at https://www.gofundme.com/f/9vfwd-gone-to-soon to help his family with expenses. 

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Mo Jazi is a breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach him at mo.najafianJazi@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236.