Suspects Plead No Guilty In 1993 CaseTop Stories

February 09, 2017 11:14
Suspects Plead  No Guilty In 1993 Case

On Tuesday, three suspects plead no guilty to 12 counts of murder in connection with a 1993 case of arson fire that killed 10 people at an apartment building in Westlake.

Prosecutors contend that Ramiro Valerio, aged 43, Joseph Monge, aged 41, and Johanna Lopez, aged 51, along with the other suspect who is still at large, were the gang members when they set a mattress on fire to intimidate an apartment manager and others who wanted to rid the complex of drug dealers.

The blaze claimed the lives of seven children and also three adults, among the killed two were pregnant women.

Valerio, Monge and Lopez were ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono to be held without bail. Each of them are eligible for the death penalty.

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Lopez's attorney, Robert Horner, said that his client was wrongly accused and has "always denied any involvement in this fire."

He also said that, Lopez had already been charged in the crime and was also set to go for the trial last week before the District Attorney's Office dismissed the case and filed new charges alongside with Valerio and Monge.

Horner said that, "they're doing what they're doing in an attempt to squeeze my client into becoming a witness in the case."

Dana Gates, Valerio's sister, described the charges of the case as "a classic case of retaliation."

Gates claimed that the Los Angeles Police Department targeted her brother because her family filed a lawsuit against the agency after the officers allegedly killed her younger brother, Ismael David Valerio, in 1992. According to Gates, the LAPD had settled that case.

The prosecutors are expected to decide whether to seek the death penalty for the accused arsonists. The defendants are scheduled to next appear in the court on Feb. 15.

By Mrudula.

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