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One Of The Women Found In Debs Park Was Shot In The Head, Coroner Says
Officials have determined that one of the two women found dead in Debs Park in Montecito Heights last weekend died from multiple injuries.
NBC Los Angeles reported that 19-year-old Gabriela Calzada was shot once in the head, according to the L.A. County Coroner. However, officials with the Coroner's office would only verify that Calzada's cause of death was from multiple injuries at a meeting held in Highland Park to discuss the deaths, the Eastsider reports. Ed Winter of the Coroner's office said that security holds had been placed on the case, according to City News Service.
At last night's meeting, LAPD Captain Martin A. Baeza talked to neighbors about the case, saying that authorities are still investigating and looking for clues to what led to the death of Calzada and 17-year-old Briana Gallegos. The bodies were found just off a hiking trail last Wednesday afternoon by a woman walking her dog.
Baeza said they're not taking anything "off the table" as they investigate, and have been exploring possible connections to other cases. This includes an incident last year in which a man allegedly assaulted and exposed himself to three different women in a serious of escalating attacks in Debs Park last year. In January, a woman said that she was groped by a man riding a bike. In June, a woman said a man riding a bike asked to borrow her phone, then exposed himself to her. In July, a woman said a man wielding a knife punched her in the face and threw her to the ground as she was walking her dog. All three women were alone when the incidents occurred and described the man as a Hispanic male about 20 to 25 years old, but that man was never caught.
At the time of the grisly discover, Baeza said that the bodies were fully clothed, did not show any signs of sexual assault and had probably not been there for long before they were found.
.@LAPD_CaptBaeza at neighborhood meeting addressing community concern about recent double homicide pic.twitter.com/V1jqN8c1RK
— Nicole Santa Cruz (@nicolesantacruz) November 4, 2015
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