One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
Long Beach man charged with Norma Lopez's murder
A photo of 17-year-old Norma Lopez who disappeared July 15, 2010. She was last seen walking home from summer school. He body was found in an empty field in Moreno Valley five days after she went missing.
(
Moreno Valley Police Dept.
)
Listen
1:13
Long Beach man charged with Norma Lopez's murder
Long Beach man charged with Norma Lopez's murder
Riverside County prosecutors have filed murder and kidnapping charges against a Long Beach man accused of killing Moreno Valley teenager Norma Lopez.
Authorities arrested Jesse Torres a week ago, more than a year after 17-year-old Lopez disappeared. Torres' arraignment will take place Thursday.
Prosecutors charged Torres with murder and a special circumstance allegation of kidnapping. The kidnapping charge makes him eligible for the death penalty if he's convicted. Authorities believe the 35-year-old single father used to live across the street from Lopez’s high school — the same place where witnesses spotted her walking home from summer school classes only a year ago. A neighbor found her body in a vacant field five days later.
At a news conference last week, Moreno Valley Police Chief John Anderson declined to say what evidence tied Jesse Torres to the crime.
“I’m not gonna release any details — I know you have questions," Anderson said.
"We’re gonna be working closely with the Riverside County District Attorney’s office; we still have a lot of work to do, and after that we’ll assess when we can release information but it will have to be at the appropriate time and right now is not the appropriate time."
Police released Torres on Monday because they had kept him beyond the 48-hour period during which they can hold a suspect without charging him. Following his release he was promptly re-arrested on the same charges. Prosecutors say they delayed filing charges to conduct an extensive review of the evidence.
Sponsored message
Torres remains in a Riverside jail on $1 million bail.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
