| For Immediate Release Case # 09CF0090 January 31, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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WOMAN CONVICTED OF ROBBING AND MURDERING MAN SHE LURED FROM A NIGHTCLUB TO HER MOTEL ROOM
*The defendant’s son faces one felony count of special circumstances murder
SANTA ANA – A woman was convicted today of robbing and murdering a man, whom she lured from a nightclub back to her motel room with the promise of sex. Leticia Carrasco, 52, Buena Park, was convicted by a jury of one felony count of murder and one felony count of second degree robbery. Carrasco faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison at her sentencing April 12, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Leticia Carrasco’s son, Noel Carrasco, 26, Buena Park, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery and one felony count of second degree robbery. If convicted, Noel Carrasco faces a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility parole. He is scheduled for jury trial March 11, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Leticia Carrasco was found guilty and Noel Carrasco is accused of the following:
On the evening of Dec. 22, 2008, Leticia Carrasco met Matias Ojeda Vazquez at a bar in Stanton. Leticia Carrasco lured Vazquez back to her motel room under the pretense of having sex and with the knowledge that her son, Noel Carrasco, was waiting in the room to rob the victim.
When the victim arrived with Leticia Carrasco, Noel Carrasco is accused of ordering the victim to give them his money. When the victim refused, the defendants fatally attacked the victim. The victim suffered five stab wounds, asphyxiation, and blunt force trauma to the head. After the murder, the defendants cleaned their motel room and wrapped bedding around the victim’s body, placed a trash bag over the victim’s head, and a dog food bag on the victim’s feet.
The defendants stuffed the body into the trunk of the victim’s car and drove to Las Vegas. The defendants dumped the body off the Interstate 15 Highway in the middle of the desert. Noel Carrasco is accused of using the victim’s cell phone to send text messages to his own girlfriend.
On Jan. 12, 2009, and Jan. 14, 2009, Noel Carrasco and Leticia Carrasco were arrested in Las Vegas, respectively. On Jan. 15, 2009, a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department helicopter found the remains of the victim in the desert.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Orange Police Department investigated this case. Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.