Man ordered to stand trial in killing of Downey woman
Andrea Vazquez
A young man who allegedly confessed to shooting a 19-year-old Downey woman in the head at a Whittier park, kidnapping her, trying to rape her and then dumping her body in Riverside County was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and other charges.
Superior Court Judge George Lomeli determined that the prosecution had presented enough evidence to allow the case against Gabriel Sean Esparza, now 22, to proceed to trial following a hearing that included nearly 1 1/2 days of testimony, including Whittier Police Department Sgt. Jose Bolanos’ account that the Whittier man gave a graphic account of the Aug. 20, 2023, attack on Andrea Vazquez.
Esparza is charged with one count each of murder, kidnapping to commit another crime, kidnapping and assault with intent to commit a felony, and two counts of attempted forcible rape -- all involving Vazquez, along with an attempted murder charge involving a young man who was dating the victim and was at Penn Park with her.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a kidnapping and murder during the commission of an attempted rape, along with allegations that he personally used a rifle. He is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted as charged.
The police sergeant testified that Esparza -- who was 20 at the time -- told him the day after the killing that he had intended to sleep, but instead got up and donned a second set of clothing over his clothes, went to a spare bedroom and grabbed a rifle and left through his bedroom window and then drove to four area parks.
Esparza said during the Aug. 21, 2023, interview that he pulled into a residential area, removed the rear license plate from his white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck and then drove back to Penn Park, where he picked up his rifle, aimed it at the young woman’s head and fired through an open window, according to Bolanos.
The defendant said the woman immediately fell over and that he fired at a man who had been sitting with her as that man ran into the park, then grabbed the young woman as she was crying and put her in the bed of his pickup truck, the sergeant testified.
“He said that he could hear the female screaming from the bed of the truck,” Bolanos said, noting that Esparza said he pulled over and fired a round into the bed of his truck, where investigators subsequently located a projectile.
Esparza said he drove on the Pomona (60) Freeway for about an hour before pulling off into an area that he described as being like a country road, threw away her cellphone and tried twice to have sex with the woman, who was still alive, according to the sergeant.
The defendant told Bolanos -- who was one of the investigators on the case -- that he saw what appeared to be a work truck and then drove further into a desolate area, where he said he pulled the woman’s body from the vehicle and dragged her into an open field, according to the sergeant.
“She was still talking, screaming ...” Bolanos said of Esparza’s account, noting that she mentioned the nickname of the young man with whom she had been sitting in the parking lot at the park.
Esparza said he dragged the woman into the field and left her there, then took off the blood-stained outer layer of clothing he wore and put it in the cab of his truck before driving to a Moreno Valley gas station to buy gas, according to the sergeant.
The defendant said he stopped in the Hacienda Heights area to re- attach his rear license plate before he drove home and went to sleep, Bolanos testified, noting that Esparza said he drove the truck for two days -- with the victim’s blood still in the truck bed -- to his job in Lakewood, where he was arrested.
Esparza agreed to take investigators back to the location where Vazquez had been left, according to the sergeant.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Ambosio Rodriguez, the investigator said Esparza had given a full confession and didn’t have to be persuaded to tell investigators where the young woman’s body had been left.
The victim’s boyfriend, Julian Gonzalez, testified Tuesday that he and Vazquez were talking while sitting on the trunk of his Honda Accord when he heard gunfire coming from the open window of a white pickup truck. He said he saw her fall to the ground and saw the gunman coming toward them. He said that he saw the gunman pointing the weapon at him and that he ran into the park, saying that he returned a few minutes later and found a puddle of blood and Vazquez missing.
Gonzalez said he called police and then went to Vazquez’s home to let her family know right away what had happened, noting that he subsequently spoke with police and wrote that he was “60% certain” of the identity of the gunman when shown a six-pack of photos that included Esparza’s photo, which was the one he identified.
Another prosecution witness, Alejandro Rico, testified that he heard the gunfire and saw a white Toyota with tinted windows and a cover over the truck bed screeching away from the scene.
Bolanos, who was called as the prosecution’s final witness, said the victim’s sister, Edlyn, had used an app to track the location of her sister’s phone and that investigators subsequently obtained records that showed cellphones belonging to the victim and the defendant first at the park and then traveling together at various locations before the phone was turned off and thrown about five to 10 minutes away from the location where the victim’s body was found.
Her body was found in a “vegetation field” off Alessandro Boulevard and Merwin Street in Moreno Valley at about 11:50 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2023, Whittier police said, noting that it appeared that Vazquez and her male companion were “randomly targeted.”
Edlyn, the victim’s sister, who was among a packed courtroom full of the victim’s loved ones, told reporters after the hearing that she now understands that her sister “suffered” and that “she felt everything.”
Esparza remains jailed without bail. He is due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse June 18 for arraignment.