FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Case # 18HF1408, 18HF1425
Date: October 31, 2018
THREE DEFENDANTS TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR STABBING MURDER OF MAN FOR BENEFIT OF CRIMINAL STREET GANG IN LAKE FOREST
SANTA ANA, Calif. – Three defendants are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for the stabbing murder of a man for the benefit of a criminal street gang at a Lake Forest apartment complex.
|
Defendant |
Charges |
Maximum Sentence |
Court Date |
|
Jose Rafael Andrade Membreno, 22, Mission Viejo
|
Charged on Oct. 4, 2018, with the following felony counts:
Sentencing Enhancements
|
36 years and eight months to life in state prison |
Arraignment Nov. 1, 2018, 10:00 a.m. Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana |
|
Xiomara Elizabeth Berrios, 18, Lake Forest |
Charged on Oct. 4, 2018, with the following felony counts:
Sentencing Enhancements
|
37 years and eight months to life in state prison |
Arraignment Nov. 1, 2018, 10:00 a.m. Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana |
|
Edwin Francisco Diaz, 18, Mission Viejo |
Charged on Oct. 10, 2018, with the following felony counts:
Sentencing Enhancements
|
36 years and eight months to life in state prison |
Arraignment Nov. 1, 2018, 10:00 a.m. Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana |
Circumstances of the Case
- On Oct. 1, 2018, at approximately 2:30 a.m., victims Marco M. and Jane Doe were in the pool area of Forest Glen Apartments in Lake Forest when Andrade Membreno, Berrios, and Diaz are accused of attacking them with knives and machetes.
- The defendants are accused of stabbing Marco M. multiple times in the upper body and murdering him on behalf of a criminal street gang.
- Andrade Membreno and Diaz are accused of chasing Marco M. during the attack until the victim collapsed and died as he was attempting to flee.
- During the attack, Berrios is accused of stabbing Jane Doe in the chest. All three defendants are accused of fleeing the scene.
- An apartment resident discovered the victim’s body at approximately 5:50 a.m. and contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), who investigated this case.
- OCSD identified Andrade Membreno and Berrios and arrested them near the scene later that day.
- On Oct. 2, 2018, OCSD swabbed bloodstains on clothing in the defendants’ possession for analysis with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) Rapid DNA Program.
- Diaz was located and arrested on Oct. 5, 2018, at a laundromat. OCSD again utilized OCDA’s Rapid DNA Program.
Rapid DNA Program
The Rapid DNA program merges the power of the OCDA DNA Database with cutting edge DNA technology to provide investigators with leads, including suspect names, within hours of a crime. The program launched in 2015 and is available to all local law enforcement. The IntegenX RapidHIT 200 DNA instrument, which was validated for use with the assistance of the Orange County Crime Lab (OCCL), can generate a DNA profile from evidence collected at a crime scene in less than two hours. If suitable, that crime scene DNA profile is searched against the Local OCDA DNA Database, which was established in 2007 and is now the largest consensual DNA database in the country. The Rapid DNA program is supported by Proposition 69 funding and is a collaborative effort among the OCDA, OCCL and local law enforcement to harness the power of science and technology to promote justice and enhance public safety.
Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Cliff Bodley, Gang/TARGET Unit