Monday, July 15, 2002
Man arrested in stabbing deaths of 4 family members
From staff and wire reports
Staff Writer
WHITTIER -- Investigators announced late Sunday night that a 23-year-old man has been arrested and booked for investigation of murder for the stabbing deaths of four family members.
The man was identified as Alfonso Ignacio Morales and he lived in the same neighborhood as the victims, said Lt. Ray Peavy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Officials earlier Sunday said that one of the victims, an 8-year-old girl, had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered.
A memorial for Jasmine Ruiz, 8, has been placed on Gunn Avenue. (Leo Jarzomb)
A preliminary investigation has determined that Jasmine Ruiz was "brutally" sexually assaulted before she was murdered and at least two assailants carried out the quadruple homicide, said Deputy Bill Spear of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The bodies of Miguel Ruiz, 37; his wife, Maritza Trejo, 41; their daughter, Jasmine; and Ruiz's 70-year-old grandmother, Anna Martinez, were found Saturday morning by Trejo's 21-year-old daughter, investigators said.
The bodies were found in separate rooms and the house had been ransacked, with walls and ceilings damaged, furniture overturned and drawers emptied, Peavy said.
Investigators still anticipate that there will be additional arrests, Peavy said.
Morales was booked at the Norwalk station and was being held without bail, Peavy said.
He described Morales as an acquaintance of the family.
No evidence of forced entry was found, Peavy said. The murder weapon has not been found. Also, no one in the neighborhood had reported unusual sounds, including barking by the family's two dogs.
Investigators believe the family was killed Thursday.
A computer was found in a neighbor's back yard, and family members told authorities that computer equipment was missing from the home.
Neighbors who have known the family since Jasmine was a baby, Nellie Rodriguez and her daughter Yvonne Ybarra, said they have not slept or eaten since they got news of the tragedy on Saturday.
"Everything was just so brutal," said Rodriguez. "I don't understand it, and I don't understand who would want to hurt them."
Ybarra said Miguel, better known as Mike, worked at Sound City in Maywood and was always tinkering with computers around the house.
"He would build computers from scratch, and he had a lot of computer equipment around, a big screen TV and nice stereo system," she said. `'And anyone could see that huge TV through the front window."
He was also very protective of his daughter, who loved books, rollerblading and listening to music with her best friend, Candice Ybarra, Yvonne's 8-year-old daughter.
"They'd come over and say `Put on some music so we can dance.' Then they would dance for hours," said Ybarra. "We are in a state of shock because Jasmine was always here."
Jasmine would have been a third-grader this year at McKibben Elementary School.
The pair didn't know the mother and grandmother, who also died, as well as Miguel and his daughter.
From the outside the two women said they didn't sense any problems at the home on Gunn Avenue, filled with the comings and goings of the four family members and Miguel's pet snake, parrot, two dogs and a large aquarium.
Others on Gunn and neighboring streets paid tribute to the family by contributing candles, teddy bears, pictures pulled from a coloring book and messages to Jasmine to a small memorial near the family's home.
Because of the horrific nature of their deaths, Peavy asked anyone with information on the crime to contact sheriff's homicide at, (323) 890-5500.
-- Staff Writer Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell contributed to this Associated Press story.
Man arrested in stabbing deaths of 4 family members
From staff and wire reports
Staff Writer
WHITTIER -- Investigators announced late Sunday night that a 23-year-old man has been arrested and booked for investigation of murder for the stabbing deaths of four family members.
The man was identified as Alfonso Ignacio Morales and he lived in the same neighborhood as the victims, said Lt. Ray Peavy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Officials earlier Sunday said that one of the victims, an 8-year-old girl, had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered.
A memorial for Jasmine Ruiz, 8, has been placed on Gunn Avenue. (Leo Jarzomb)
A preliminary investigation has determined that Jasmine Ruiz was "brutally" sexually assaulted before she was murdered and at least two assailants carried out the quadruple homicide, said Deputy Bill Spear of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The bodies of Miguel Ruiz, 37; his wife, Maritza Trejo, 41; their daughter, Jasmine; and Ruiz's 70-year-old grandmother, Anna Martinez, were found Saturday morning by Trejo's 21-year-old daughter, investigators said.
The bodies were found in separate rooms and the house had been ransacked, with walls and ceilings damaged, furniture overturned and drawers emptied, Peavy said.
Investigators still anticipate that there will be additional arrests, Peavy said.
Morales was booked at the Norwalk station and was being held without bail, Peavy said.
He described Morales as an acquaintance of the family.
No evidence of forced entry was found, Peavy said. The murder weapon has not been found. Also, no one in the neighborhood had reported unusual sounds, including barking by the family's two dogs.
Investigators believe the family was killed Thursday.
A computer was found in a neighbor's back yard, and family members told authorities that computer equipment was missing from the home.
Neighbors who have known the family since Jasmine was a baby, Nellie Rodriguez and her daughter Yvonne Ybarra, said they have not slept or eaten since they got news of the tragedy on Saturday.
"Everything was just so brutal," said Rodriguez. "I don't understand it, and I don't understand who would want to hurt them."
Ybarra said Miguel, better known as Mike, worked at Sound City in Maywood and was always tinkering with computers around the house.
"He would build computers from scratch, and he had a lot of computer equipment around, a big screen TV and nice stereo system," she said. `'And anyone could see that huge TV through the front window."
He was also very protective of his daughter, who loved books, rollerblading and listening to music with her best friend, Candice Ybarra, Yvonne's 8-year-old daughter.
"They'd come over and say `Put on some music so we can dance.' Then they would dance for hours," said Ybarra. "We are in a state of shock because Jasmine was always here."
Jasmine would have been a third-grader this year at McKibben Elementary School.
The pair didn't know the mother and grandmother, who also died, as well as Miguel and his daughter.
From the outside the two women said they didn't sense any problems at the home on Gunn Avenue, filled with the comings and goings of the four family members and Miguel's pet snake, parrot, two dogs and a large aquarium.
Others on Gunn and neighboring streets paid tribute to the family by contributing candles, teddy bears, pictures pulled from a coloring book and messages to Jasmine to a small memorial near the family's home.
Because of the horrific nature of their deaths, Peavy asked anyone with information on the crime to contact sheriff's homicide at, (323) 890-5500.
-- Staff Writer Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell contributed to this Associated Press story.
