A man pleaded not guilty today to strangling his girlfriend in a SUV behind her parent’s home in Monrovia.
Joel Velazquez, 49, of Valinda, is charged with murdering Alice Marie Medina-Kaplan.
The 46-year-old woman died Sept. 21. Her father, Raymond Medina, told NBC4 that his daughter was mentally ill and had been living in her vehicle since April, when she left a treatment center where she met Velazquez.
Velazquez’s called deputies at the sheriff’s Industry Station and asked them to check on their son and his girlfriend.
Maria Cortes told KCAL9 that her son told her by telephone and text message that he was hurting himself, and it was too late for his girlfriend.
“It was terrible, really terrible. He cut his arms,” Cortes said.”I guess she drank a beer or something or had some drinks and he just like really lost it. He was trying to make her quiet. I guess he choked her.”
Cortes said her son and Medina were mentally ill.
“My whole life I’ve been trying to help him, to get help. Never in a million years would I believe this was going to happen, never,” she said.
Monrovia police told Channel 4 they had been to the address at least five times this year on reports of domestic violence.
Velazquez has been jailed on more than $1 million bail since his arrest.
He is due back at the Pasadena courthouse Nov. 17, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
— City News Service