Investigators say the suspect fired one shot after a street fight ended outside the victim’s home.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — San Bernardino police are searching for a 20-year-old woman accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Niliyah Montgomery on Feb. 1, saying the young mother was hit from behind as she walked back into her home after a fight on West Concord Street.

The case drew wider attention this week after police publicly identified Elvia Johnson as the suspect and said she is wanted on a homicide warrant. Investigators say Johnson should be considered armed and dangerous. For Montgomery’s family, the announcement moved a neighborhood killing into a new phase, one in which police say they know whom they are looking for but still have not made an arrest.

Officers were called to the 1600 block of West Concord Street at about 5 p.m. on Feb. 1 after reports of a shooting near Medical Center Drive. By the time they arrived, police said, a confrontation involving several people had already turned violent. Investigators later said Montgomery had been involved in a fight with a group outside the home. Then, according to the police account, the fight ended. As Montgomery turned and began heading back inside, Johnson got into a vehicle and fired a single shot. Police said the round struck Montgomery in the back. Relatives described a scene that shifted from a street argument to panic in seconds. Her mother, Tasha Montgomery, told local television reporters that her daughter ran into her arms calling for her after the shot was fired.

Montgomery was taken to a hospital, where she later died. Police did not release many details in the first days after the shooting, and authorities have not publicly explained what set off the dispute or how many people were in the group outside the house. They also have not said what kind of firearm was used, whether the shooter knew Montgomery before that day, or what evidence led detectives to identify Johnson weeks later. By Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, local outlets reported that detectives had named Johnson, 20, as the suspect and that a warrant had been issued for her arrest. San Bernardino police said she remains at large. The department released her photo and asked the public for help finding her, identifying homicide detectives Donald Roy and Erik Campos as contacts in the case.

What is known about Montgomery came largely from her family and from later television reports. Her mother said the victim was a single mother raising a 3-year-old daughter and had gone back to school after stepping away when she became pregnant. In those accounts, Montgomery was described not only as a homicide victim but as a daughter, firstborn child and parent whose death widened the damage far beyond the block where the shooting happened. The location itself is a residential stretch in San Bernardino west of downtown, near hospitals and busy local streets. Police have kept the case framed in narrow terms, saying only that multiple people were involved in a physical altercation before the gunfire. That leaves major questions unanswered, including whether anyone else at the scene has been interviewed publicly, whether surveillance video exists and whether detectives believe others helped the suspect leave.

The procedural posture is clearer than the motive. Police say Johnson now has an active warrant and is wanted in connection with Montgomery’s death. A warrant means investigators believe they have gathered enough evidence to seek an arrest, but no charging document or court schedule had been publicly detailed in the reports available this week. Authorities have also not announced whether Johnson has legal representation or whether prosecutors have filed a formal complaint in open court. The next major step is straightforward: arrest and booking. After that, the case would likely move to a first court appearance, where charges, bail questions and future hearing dates would become public. Until then, detectives appear focused on locating Johnson and locking down witness statements, timelines and any physical evidence tied to the car and gun they say were used.

The family’s grief has become part of the public record through brief but piercing comments. Tasha Montgomery told local reporters, “She was everything to me. That’s my child, my firstborn. She made me a mother.” In another moment, she described the immediate aftermath in words that captured the violence more sharply than any police bulletin. Those remarks helped explain why the case has resonated beyond a routine wanted notice. It is not only about a suspect search. It is about a teenager whose life had already changed once when she became a mother and who, her family said, was trying to build a future when she was killed outside her own home. For neighbors, the block is now attached to a killing that police say happened after the fistfight was already over.

As of March 24, police had publicly identified a suspect, issued a warrant and continued asking for help locating Johnson. The next milestone in the case is her arrest, which would open the first court stage and likely bring new details about motive, evidence and the events of Feb. 1.

Author note: Last updated March 24, 2026.