Los Angeles Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar rejected the defense’s motion to dismiss the case against 44-year-old Ramiro Alberto Valerio of Palmdale, 42-year-old Joseph Alberto Monge of Montebello, and 52-year-old Johanna Lopez, who are charged with 10 counts of murder and two counts of murder of a human fetus.
The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of an arson, along with allegations that the crime was “committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang.”
Prosecutors will decide later if they will seek the death penalty against the three, who are due back Nov. 3 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment.
Authorities said earlier this year they believed the fire was set in retaliation because a building manager was trying to crack down on drug-dealing at the 69-unit structure in the 300 block of West Burlington Avenue.
The prosecution presented a series of photos of some of the youngest victims, including an unborn baby as the hearing began last week.
The prosecution’s first witness, Los Angeles County Deputy Medical Examiner Christopher Rogers, testified that autopsies showed that eight of the victims died from smoke inhalation and that the unborn fetus of one of the women died as a result of maternal smoke inhalation.
“The main problem with smoke is it has a lot of carbon monoxide,” Rogers said, noting that “you would need only a few breaths to die.”
The deputy medical examiner testified that eight of the victims — 2- year-old Lancy Mateo, 3-year-old Jose Camargo, 4-year-old Jesus Camargo, 6-year- old William Verdugo, 7-year-old Rosia Camargo, 8-year-old Yadira Verdugo, 10- year-old Leyver Verdugo and 29-year-old Alejandrina Roblero — had dark markings on their bodies or clothes that were consistent with soot.
Rogers said he reviewed autopsies performed on those eight victims by a deputy medical examiner who has since died and agreed with the original determination that they had died from “inhalation of products of combustion.”
Rosalia Ruiz‘s unborn fetus weighed 8 pounds and died as a result of maternal smoke inhalation, said Rogers, who performed that autopsy.
The prosecution used a large courtroom screen to display photos of the unborn baby, who had a full head of hair, along with photos of the other victims.
Valerio, Monge and Lopez are also charged with the deaths of Ruiz, 21, and Olga Leon, 24, who was also pregnant.
More than 40 people were injured, and more than 100 residents were displaced, authorities said.
Dozens of other people were injured, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In February, Valerio’s sister, Dana Gates, told reporters, “My brother is innocent. He would not do this. He would not commit a crime like this.”
She called it a “classic case of retaliation” by the Los Angeles Police Department, telling reporters that her family successfully sued the LAPD over the September 1992 shooting death of one of her brothers, Ismael David Valerio.
Ramiro Valerio and Joseph Monge have remained jailed without bail since their arrests in February.
Lopez was charged in 2011 with murder in connection with the fire, and murder charges were refiled against her in February after the initial case was dismissed.
Los Angeles police declined to name a fourth suspect who was “out of the jurisdiction.”
Previous related story: Palmdale man arrested in deadly 1993 fire
smurfshoe says
McAurthur Park/ West Lake was unbelievably ghetto during this time, it still is. I lived there from 93-96 and it was gun shots all night and fending off during the day.
Unbelievable says
And yet Ramiro worked as a RiteAid Store Manager in Bouquet Canyon risking the lives of employees and customers!
Geeshe already says
Why do people have to make a comment simply because, “Tim Scott” (or whomever) made a comment? I’m sure that because of past arguments, we already realize that you don’t like the guy, but to comment JUST to reiterate that fact is simply lame. Get a life and move on. If you don’t have a comment that is relivent to the topic (which, yes I do realize that I have just done) then shut the hell up.
Alexis says
Remember Raymond Lee Jennings? Incompetent detectives, a greedy lawyer (Rex), and a prosecutor that misled jurors. Thank goodness for the father and son defense team. I’m not saying Mr. Valerio is innocent, but hopefully the truth will be revealed, and the prosecutors won’t be dirty. Doesn’t look good for Mr. Valerio.
Ray B Wrong says
Rex tried to screw over Raymond Lee Jennings, Randy Floyd, and Esmeralda Jorge through the DA. He was proven wrong on all three.
He smeared Jonathan Ervin, an African-American veteran through a series of poisonous racist political hit mailers calling Ervin a ‘gang’ candidate.
Now he is leading a group of Lancaster political hacks in a campaign against Palmdale’s mayor trying to smear him.
See a pattern?
Alexis says
Retaliation and fabrication happens.
Tim Scott says
Yup. It’s pretty easy to say “we will let you off this charge if you become a CI and say that this happened twenty years ago,” but it’s really hard to answer “where were you on this night in 1993, and is there anyone who saw you there who can testify to that?” Old unsolved cases are a favorite vehicle for retribution, especially now that TV has created this image of heroic cops endlessly toiling over a ‘cold case.’
AV supporter says
Why would the prosecutor wait to decide to see if they’re going to give them the death penalty it’s a no-brainer
Tim Scott says
Because there is no requirement to decide that until the sentencing part of the proceedings, and no benefit to the prosecution in doing so…and certainly no benefit in announcing it. If their case is weak and they make it a matter of life and death they could lose a conviction they otherwise might have gotten.
They already filed charges and then backed out once, and it’s taken almost 25 years to even get to trial. They seem very intent on leaning on “look how horrible the crime was” rather than really proving who did it. It is very likely that they have a weak case.
AV supporter says
You’re right reading this story the case is pretty weak but it’s something there that’s why they filed charges but I don’t know if it’s enough to convict them maybe they’ll take a plea deal
Tim Scott says
The claim that this is just retaliation against the family is potentially a good line of defense. All it takes is one juror to agree that “angry cop found a CI they could convince to name these people as the arsonists” is plausible. The whole “CI came out of nowhere twenty years later” thing starts out pretty soft so it might not take too much to establish reasonable doubt. The problem, of course, is that it’s very unlikely these defendants can afford an attorney that can match the prosecutor the state will put up against them.
Shane Falco says
The claim of “successfully suing” the LAPD isn’t quite correct. The LAPD settled a lawsuit with the family for about $330,000. This was on the heels of Rodney King and the city of LA was settling (without admitting fault) many lawsuits to keep the city from having another riot.
The guy shot was with known gangsters with a rifle. Cops rolled up and he held something up and the cop shot him. It ended up being a camera in his hand. The cop killed him but he’s dead because he was in a gang and somebody called the police because one of his crimey’s had a rifle.
If this happened today, the lawsuit would be tosssed.
Tim Scott says
They sued. They got hundreds of thousands of dollars. Only an idiot like Foolco would try to explain how that isn’t “successful.”
Tim Scott says
Anyone who would consider a mere $330,000 to be a success must be a lowly cockroach, eh Shane? We know you base your manhood on seven digits and nothing less, right?
Mark says
Hi BOB!