TikToker Speaks Out About Video That Led Police To Sibling Murder Suspects

BELLFLOWER, CA — A brother and sister were scheduled to be arraigned Friday on suspicion of murdering a 66-year-old man on a bike trail in Cerritos. The pair were arrested thanks to the sleuthing of an eagle-eyed TikTok follower and a bizarre string of events.

John Chong Moon, 54, and Cindy Kim, 58, both of La Palma, are charged with one count each of murder and attempted second-degree robbery. Moon is also facing an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a handgun, killing 66-year-old Cuauhtemoc Garcia, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The pair were arrested Sunday following a police chase in Orange County.

Garcia was exiting his vehicle at about 12:30 p.m. Feb. 25 to take a walk along the Coyote Creek Bike Path, behind 13121 Briarwood St., near Don Knabe Park in Cerritos, when the brother and sister allegedly tried to steal his car, prosecutors said.

Garcia was shot when he did not hand over the car keys, police said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department released a surveillance image of a man and a woman believed to be the killers, seen in the area at the time of the shooting.

It didn't take long for someone to recognize them as the same pair in a viral TikTok video recently filmed by an influencer visiting Southern California from Naples, Florida.

The memorable video was reportedly filmed at a Panera Bread outdoor dining area in Cypress days after the shooting.

The Naples TikToker, who amassed a following for videos of her wildlife encounters with alligators, manatees and dolphins under the name saltynaplesmama, filmed a brief, hostile encounter with two people.

In the video, the pair, later identified by detectives as Moon and Kim, are eating lunch when they angrily rattle off a string of insults peppered with racist slurs directed at the Florida couple seated at an adjacent table.

When media outlets aired the images of the wanted killers, a viewer recognized the wanted pair from the TikTok video, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was able to identity the defendants through a video taken of the siblings posted on TikTok," District Attorney Hochman said.

“This was a senseless and brutal act of violence that took the life of a husband, father and businessman who simply wanted to enjoy a peaceful walk,” he added. “My sympathies go out to his family as they grieve this unimaginable loss. We will pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law to hold those responsible accountable.”

The suspects had been scheduled for arraignment Friday, but their hearing was put off until March 28 in the Norwalk courthouse. Prosecutors requested bail be set at $3 million for Moon and $2 million for Kim, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The influencer who posted the racist video to TikTok has since taken the video down. She shared an explanation with her followers.

"I figure I should address this because people are asking about it on my other posts now...The yelling back and forth with the racist murderers is not the kind of energy that I want on my page permanently," she wrote. "I never wanted to use it as content to begin with (that's certainly not my theme), but let me tell you how happy I am that because of that video, justice is being served, and these trashy people are having the damn day they deserve. It's all over the news if you Google Cerritos murder suspects arrested. I've been thinking about the Garcia family since I heard from the homicide detective and can't imagine what they've been through. They didn't deserve this. He was just going out for a walk in the middle of the day."