A California man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of a woman who was found beaten to death in an alleyway near her place of work, Laguna Beach police announced.
Dino Rojas-Moreno, 26, was arrested and accused of murder in the death of 27-year-old Tatum Goodwin, whose body was found by a construction worker Sunday behind an alley near the 200 block of Ocean Avenue, police said.
Georgette Schuda, Goodwin’s friend and neighbor, told The Orange County Register that Rojas-Moreno had no direct relation to the victim.
Local ABC affiliate KABC, citing court documents, reported that Rojas-Moreno is accused of using a fire extinguisher as a weapon in the woman’s death.
Police did not specify a motive in the killing, but said Rojas-Moreno was taken into custody after detectives “obtained enough information and evidence.”
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Marcos Salim Heredia, the owner of Carmelita’s Restaurants, where Goodwin worked as an assistant manager, described her on a GoFundMe page as “a very hard working young lady” who “always kept a smile on her face.”
“Over the years she had expressed her pleasure to be in [Laguna] and have her opportunity with us,” Heredia wrote. “We felt that we really had a family member here with us.”
Heredia said the money raised via the GoFundMe will go toward making a memorial in Laguna Beach.
According to police, Rojas-Moreno is being held on $1,000,000 bond. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
