Andrea Vazquez and her boyfriend were allegedly targeted by a shooter in a park after midnight; the boyfriend reportedly fled and when he returned "discovered blood near his vehicle" and Vazquez missing.
The body of 19-year-old Andrea Vazquez has been found and the man authorities believe is responsible for her death is under arrest.
Gabriel Esparza, a 20-year-old resident of Whittier, California, was arrested Monday in connection to her death and the “attempted murder of her boyfriend.” He was later charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney with one count of murder, one count of willful, deliberate and premeditated, attempted murder; one count of kidnapping to commit rape; one count of kidnapping; one count of assault with intent to commit rape; and two counts of attempted forcible rape.
Esparza pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Wednesday, with a preliminary hearing set for October 25. He’s being held without bail and faces a maximum penalty of life without the possibility of parole.
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The search for Vazquez began on Sunday, after police responded to a shooting and kidnapping incident at a Whittier park shortly after midnight. According to the DA’s press release, Vazquez and her boyfriend were at the park together when Esparza allegedly approached their vehicle and began to “shoot at the victims.”
The boyfriend fled and when he returned, “discovered blood near his vehicle and his female companion was missing,” said Whittier police in an initial statement. “As he turned his back to ask for help, in that moment, my sister was kidnapped,” the victim’s sister Edlyn Vazquez told ABC 7.
The DA’s release says Esparza allegedly kidnapped Vazquez from the scene “and drove off with her in the bed of his pickup truck” to Riverside County, where he “attempted to rape her before dumping her body in a field.”
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Her body was discovered shortly before midnight on August 21, hours after Esparza was arrested at his place of employment earlier that day. According to Whittier police, a weapon believed to have been used in the crime was recovered, as well as Esparza’s vehicle.
As of Tuesday, police said they believe both Vazquez and her boyfriend were “randomly targeted.”
“There is no sense. Nothing makes sense,” the victim’s mother told NBC4. “We don’t know this person. When I see the picture of this guy who killed her, I see him and why did he do that? Who is he? Why my daughter? There’s so many things in my head.”
“Today is the worst day of my life. We received the news that my daughter died,” she added at a news conference. “We had a lot of hope that she was alive.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the family.
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