The body of Andrea Vasquez was found in a field, and Gabriel Esparza faces charges in her murder. (Screenshot from LA’s Fox11; Vasquez and suspect photo from Whitter Police Department)
A 20-year-old man accused of shooting at a couple parked in a parking lot at a Los Angeles area park put her into the bed of his pickup truck and drove 50 miles away, where he tried to rape her before dumping her body in a field, and going to work the next day where he was arrested, prosecutors said this week.
Gabriel Sean Esparza, 20, was charged in the kidnapping, attempted rape and murder of 19-year-old Andrea Vasquez and the attempted murder of her boyfriend, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a news release this week.
“Our hearts ache for the devastating loss of a young life. The heinous nature of this crime, involving the murder, kidnapping and attempted rape of an innocent young woman, shocks our community to its core,” Gascón said. “My office will work tirelessly to hold Gabriel Esparza accountable for his callous actions against Ms. Vasquez and her partner. In these moments of profound sorrow, I send my deepest condolences to Ms. Vasquez’s family as they cope with this painful tragedy.”
Esparza pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to seven counts, including murder, willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder, kidnapping to commit rape, kidnapping, assault with intent to commit rape, and attempted forcible rape, prosecutors said. He also faces special circumstances of murder during a kidnapping and murder during an attempted rape. He also faces an allegation for using a rifle, prosecutors said.
His lawyer Ambrosio Rodriguez said his client is “scared” and is “just beginning to understand what is going on,” the local FOX11 reported.
“Everyone, in this case, is in shock, and everyone who knows him can’t believe that he has been charged with this crime,” the lawyer told the station, adding he was a good kid from a good family whose father is a LA County Fire Department captain.
After Esparza’s arraignment, the victim’s mother, Anna Vasquez, spoke out to reporters.
“I want justice for my daughter,” she said. “She was just starting out her life.”
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The suspect was held at the Los Angeles County Jail without bail and was set to appear in court on Oct. 25. If convicted of the charges and allegations, Esparza faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
The killing happened just before midnight on Sunday when Esparza allegedly approached and shot at Vasquez and her boyfriend in the parking area of Penn Park in Whittier, southeast of LA. After the shooting, he allegedly put Vasquez into the bed of his pickup truck and drove to a remote area of Moreno Valley in Riverside County, about 50 miles away, where he tried to rape her before dumping her body in a field, prosecutors said. Esparza was arrested at his workplace in Lakewood on Monday when searchers found the victim’s body in the field. A weapon believed to have been used in the crime was recovered, as was his 2013 White Toyota Tacoma truck, police said.
Police believe Vasquez and her boyfriend were randomly targeted. The victim’s boyfriend told police that she disappeared after a gunman fired in their direction as the couple was in his car.
“An adult male witness reported that while at the park with an adult female companion, an armed suspect approached their vehicle and fired a weapon in their direction,” police said. “The male witness ran from the location and, upon his return, discovered blood near his vehicle, and his female companion was missing.”
Vasquez’s sister said it all went down quickly as the boyfriend turned his back to ask for help.
“In that moment, my sister was kidnapped,” Edlyn Vasquez told Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC-TV.
She said she tracked her sister’s cellphone Sunday morning to a field off a freeway in Moreno Valley, where she found more blood but no phone nor her sister.
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