Man Charged with Murder of Roommate, Dumping Her Body in a Dumpster
Photo: suspect pushes victim’s body toward dumpster (ABC7)
EL MONTE – The culmination of a preliminary investigation into LAPD being contacted for “suspicious circumstances” of a man dragging a body to a community dumpster has resulted in a man being charged with murder.
While Homicide Bureau Detectives of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continue to assist El Monte Police Department (EMPD) personnel in the investigation, questions remain: What caused the death of a Hispanic adult female on February 4, 2020 at 10:25 AM?
EMPD had arrived to the 3300 Block of Maxson Road, searched for “a male dragging a female body towards the dumpsters, and located the victim inside a trash dumpster,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Trina Schrader.
Florinda Velasquez-Hernandez (64) was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of her death was unknown, nor was there an apparent motive.
Several witnesses were questioned and one suspect was detained for questioning. As a result, suspect David Lemus-Orellana (22) was arrested on February 5th for the murder of Victim Velasquez-Hernandez. Bail was set at $1,000,000.
One day later, on February 6th, Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charge: “David Stanley Lemus Orellana (dob 12/20/97) faces one count of murder in case KA124055. Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Tang is the prosecutor assigned to the case.”
Said Tang, “Lemus Orellana allegedly strangled Florinda Hernandez Vasquez on February 4 and put her body in a dumpster near their home.”
While the case remains under investigation by EMPD and L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept., the defendant faces a possible maximum prison sentence of 25 years-to-life. Now, Bail is scheduled at $2 million.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. To provide information anonymously, call “Crime Stoppers” (800) 222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or via the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
