Ventura County – On March 15th of this year, the body of Ashley Moran, a 21-year old resident of Santa Paula, was found hidden in the brush of a small neighborhood park in that city.
The ensuing investigation indicated that she had died from blunt force wounds to the head and repeated stabbings to her torso…and that she was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time of her violent death. Recently arrested in connection with Moran’s death was Antonio Magana.
According to Santa Paula Police Department spokesman Cdr. Ish Cordero, Magana—known to have had an off-and-on relationship with Moran—was a suspect since the initial investigation began, stating, “Magana stayed on top as one of the main persons of interest.” For his part, Magana, who was 18 at the time of Moran’s death, was a known gang affiliate who already had a child with another young woman. “it was about the longest, most complex and complicated investigation that I have ever been involved in,” Cordero said, indicating that within a week of the killing, SPPD had served multiple search warrants on three individual Santa Paula residences, “putting this case together.”
Pursuant to the evidence gathered during the investigation into Moran’s death, on August 14th Magana was observed driving down one of Santa Paula’s principal thoroughfares and was pulled over in a routine traffic stop. He was taken into custody at that time and transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on felony murder with his bail set at $500,000.
Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
Read more:
Santa Paula Times: SP teenager arrested as suspect in slaying
VCSTAR: Boyfriend arrested in death
