In the 365 days since he was killed, Robert Carlos Montoya Valdez‘s name has become a chant and a prayer, and a rallying call.
Montoya, a 52-year-old father of four, ran when ICE agents appeared at the Home Depot parking lot on Aug. 14, 2025, in Monrovia. He crossed Evergreen Avenue and fled into the eastbound lanes of the 210 freeway at Mountain Avenue, where an SUV struck him.
One year later, and the city of Monrovia still waits for the release of the California Highway Patrol investigation into the day laborer’s death.
Advocates, many of whom were launched into activism after Montoya’s death, are working to build a permanent memorial to him. And Montoya’s name is still invoked to protest the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy. The city itself, also, has kept the incident in focus, even a year later.
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Dylan Feik, Monrovia’s city manager, was the first official to report Montoya’s death.
“On the anniversary of his death, first and foremost, the city of Monrovia offers its condolences to the family of Mr. Montoya Valdez,” Feik said. “We also would like to thank emergency responders, including all those with the city’s police and fire departments, for their lifesaving efforts one year ago.”
But as the year marches on, frustration has lingered.
Feik said the city began working with state officials the day Montoya died and have been following up ever since. The city submitted a public records request to the California Highway Patrol on April 14.
“They’ve extended their time frame two or three times and we’re no closer to receiving a copy of the investigative report,” he said. “We’ve also reached out to the Office of the Governor and Office of the Attorney General. While we’ve received return phone calls, there is no new information they are providing. We understand how community members are frustrated, as are we, in trying to provide information.”
Neither the CHP nor the Department of Homeless Security could be reached for this report.
At the time, back in August last year, a DHS spokesperson said: “This individual was not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement.
“We do not know their legal status. We were not aware of this incident or notified by California Highway Patrol until hours after operations in the area had concluded.”
It was still only a few months into the Trump Administration’s large, federal immigration dragnet, seeking to detain and deport what officials pledged would be targeted at the “worst of the worst” illegal immigrant criminals.
Since then, Trump has touted the crackdown, crediting it for a sharp reduction in illegal border crossings. A DHS press release on Thursday said the reduction “shows the profound impact of robust enforcement policies. With daily apprehensions down 94% from the previous administration, the border remains more secure than at any point in history.”
“Again this month, the results are clear: President Trump’s border security agenda is restoring order and putting the safety of the American people first,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a written statement. “DHS remains focused on enforcing our immigration laws, securing the border, and ensuring those who enter our country illegally are removed swiftly. Thanks to the strong leadership of President Trump, we have the most secure border in history.”
But Montoya’s death also came as many in local communities questioned whether it was only the “worst of the worst” who were being targeted in a crackdown that would continue. Immigrant advocates have lamented the broader impact of the federal operation.
In July, locally and nationally, protests decried the deaths of two men shot and killed by federal immigration agents in a span of two weeks. Both deadly encounters came amid a recent surge in immigration operations nationwide.
In the Monrovia case, Montoya was taken to a hospital, where he died. The day before, he had sent a video to his 8-year-old grandson in Guatemala, showing him Hot Wheels cars he had bought for him.
While Montoya was undocumented, he was not a criminal, advocates said, not among “the worst of the worst” violent criminals.
Among the frustrated are Sheri Lochner, 64, a nurse and teacher, and Sharon Nicholls, 57, a librarian, both Monrovia residents whose lives pivoted into activism after Montoya’s death.
Both said their outrage over the unconstitutional and cruel detention of immigrants was sparked by what happened to Montoya, and continues to be fueled by the knowledge that people continue to suffer and die because of violent federal immigration enforcement.
Lochner, looking over the 75 white crosses in one memorial assembled outside the Home Depot in Pasadena on July 25, said “these are just the people we know about.”
Lochner said she was outraged that Montoya was killed in Monrovia, her hometown.
“It was almost a disbelief that ‘This can’t happen here,’” she said. “But obviously it can, and immigrants can tell us it’s been happening.”
Both women, together with NDLON and the Immigration Resource Center of the San Gabriel Valley, have kept up an altar outside the Monrovia Home Depot, mobilized teams to stand outside local Home Depots, and trained to visit detainees at Adelanto ICE Processing Center. Their rallying cry: “No mas muertes.” No more deaths.
“We cannot allow the inhumane conditions in Adelanto and all of the centers across ICE stations in America to continue with their inhumane treatment,” said Jean Grant, director of development for the Immigrant Resource Center. “It’s not normal for a society to break down their own people. It’s not normal for people who have a conscience to look away and do nothing.”
NDLON, the Immigrant Resource Center of San Gabriel Valley, local churches and immigrant advocates will gather from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Monrovia Home Depot, 1625 Mountain Ave.
There will be a clergy-led procession, prayers and music. Attendees will also deliver a letter to Home Depot management demanding corporate accountability and transparency to Home Depot, a demand the immigrant advocacy group has made since Montoya died.
Home Depot itself has sought to distance itself from the incident.
“To say that we are cooperating with immigration enforcement is just false,” read a statement from a Home Depot spokesperson. “We are not informed when immigration enforcement is going to happen, and we’re in no way involved in the operations. We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots.”
Advocates hope Saturday’s commemoration will lead to a repeat of what happened in West Hollywood on June 29, when its City Council approved the removal of Home Depot from its approved vendor list and collective purchasing agreement for the fiscal year 2026-2027, citing concerns about the home improvement store’s potential complicity with ICE agents.
It’s a way of voting their values and history of welcoming and belonging, Councilmember Chelsea Byers said.
Monrovia’s Home Depot continues to be a flashpoint for protests and vigils. The first gathering happened the day after Montoya was killed, when more than 300 people gathered outside the store. Throughout the year, photos and portraits of Montoya have appeared in signs and banners, showing him in day laborer gear, or arms crossed in front of his chest, smiling.
The day after Montoya was killed, his niece, Mariela Mendez, tearfully said she hoped that first rally would bring the whole world in support and understanding that immigrants are human beings who want a better life.
“I want you all to know that not only did my uncle die but a entire family in Guatemala is completely destroyed and broken because they couldn’t say goodbye to my uncle,” Mendez said. “Their hope was that he would return at the end of the year, but not like this, not in this way.”
More than 2,800 miles away from Monrovia, Montoya’s family tends to his grave site. They buried their patriarch on Sept. 7 in his native Jutiapa, Guatemala. About 1,000 people donated $42,167 to a GoFundMe campaign to bring his remains home and support his family.
Mendez, his niece, said the outpouring shows “how many good hearts still in this world.”
At Montoya’s funeral, his grandson placed a Superman action figure atop his blue and silver coffin. Superman was a gift from his abuelo, the boy said, and it was what his grandfather has always meant and will always mean to him.