Community marks one year since Carlos Roberto Montoya died fleeing immigration agents at Monrovia Home Depot

MONROVIA, Calif. - Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez, a 52-year-old father of four from Guatemala, was remembered Saturday near the Monrovia Home Depot where he had come looking for work one year earlier.

The vigil became a march to the store’s front doors, where organizers called for answers about Montoya’s death and renewed their push for legislation requiring large retailers to disclose records tied to immigration enforcement activity.

What we know:

Montoya came to the Monrovia Home Depot parking lot looking for a day of work in August 2025.

On Saturday, Aug. 15,community members gathered near the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway, where Montoya died after running from immigration enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security denies its agents chased him.

Sheri Lochner, a Monrovia resident, said she was shocked when she learned Montoya had died.

"I was absolutely shocked. I was born and raised here in Monrovia and I remember sitting with my mom and I just went, this is wrong."

Lochner said she came to the first vigil after Montoya’s death. She said a small group later began organizing in a Monrovia park and returned to the Home Depot lot the following Monday.

"And then on the Monday, we showed up here, and we’ve been showing up ever since," Lochner said.

The backstory:

Lochner said volunteers continue visiting the Home Depot parking lot in the mornings, when day laborers gather to look for work. She said their role is to serve as legal observers if immigration agents appear.

"We come out in the mornings, because that’s when they’re here," Lochner said. "Our role is to be legal observers in the event that ICE does show up."

At Saturday’s vigil, Lochner carried one of 78 coffins across the parking lot. Organizers said the coffins represented people who died in ICE operations or while in ICE custody.

Lochner said the group refuses to let Carlos’s death—and others like it—fade from public view.

"As long as we remain silent, and that's what the government is relying on is our silence, that they can sweep these murders under the carpet."

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What they're saying:

After praying for Montoya, the group marched to the front of the Home Depot. The store’s doors were closed as demonstrators arrived.

Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network addressed the crowd from outside the entrance.

"They closed the doors to us. So what does that tell you? They made a choice today and they can actually close the doors to ICE when they come as well."

Organizers want Home Depot to provide video from the day Montoya died. They say Montoya’s family asked for the video and did not receive it.

"The family deserves to know the truth. This community deserves to know the truth," Alvarado said. "Just tell us what happened that day so that we can heal."

What's next:

State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez introduced SB 1103, the REPAIR Act, with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Pérez said the bill would have required large retailers to report immigration enforcement activity at their locations and share video information with families seeking to understand what happened.

"His family wanted that video footage so they could understand what happened," Pérez said. "It’s critical for families to have access to that information."

The legislation was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Pérez said she is working with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network on how to reintroduce the bill next year.

"It terrifies me, if I'm being perfectly honest with you, to know that these raids are going to continue," Pérez said.

Home Depot denies coordinating with ICE or giving federal agents access to its license-plate readers.

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