With the defendant’s no contest plea, Los Angeles authorities closed the case on the 2011 murders of a teenage woman and a younger girl that after sparked fears of an Eastside serial killer.
Geovanni Borjas, 37, pleaded no contest to homicide and rape within the instances of Michelle Lozano, 17, who disappeared on April 24, 2011, and Bree’Anna Guzman, 22, who disappeared in late December that 12 months. He additionally pleaded no contest to kidnapping Guzman.
It was the second time within the Los Angeles Police Division historical past that familial DNA helped detectives zero in on a high-profile killer, then-Chief Charlie Beck mentioned in saying Borjas’ arrest in 2017. The primary was when investigators zeroed in on serial killer Lonnie Franklin Jr., often known as the Grim Sleeper, in 2010.
A search of familial DNA turned up a near-match for proof collected from the Eastside victims’ our bodies, Beck mentioned in 2017. The partial DNA belonged to Borjas’ father, and detectives searching for a precise match zeroed in on Borjas, following him till they captured a pattern when he spat on a sidewalk, police mentioned.
The deaths preceded instances of different lacking girls and murder victims east of downtown, the place Lozano’s physique was discovered a day after she was reported lacking and the place Guzman’s physique was found a month after she disappeared.
Each have been discovered close to freeways.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s workplace mentioned Lozano had been strangled and Guzman, whose physique was badly decomposed, sustained unspecified neck trauma. The Los Angeles Occasions reported in 2017 that Borjas, who lived in Torrance and labored on the Eastside as a medical biller, almost definitely noticed Guzman at his office and as soon as lived close to Lozano.
Beck mentioned his division’s DNA database search turned up no different open-case matches for Borjas. An legal professional for Borjas didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Final 12 months, after having vowed to get rid of capital homicide prosecutions, District Legal professional George Gascón withdrew the case from loss of life penalty consideration.
With Monday’s plea, Gascón mentioned in an announcement, “Mr. Borjas lastly took account for his heinous actions and is predicted to spend the remainder of his life in jail.”
Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 12.
