A man was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend and dumping her body in Hacienda Heights six years ago.
Francisco Nila Rojas, 40, was convicted Friday of first-degree murder for the Feb. 18, 2011, shooting death of Claudia Tecuautzin. A Pomona Superior Court jury deliberated for less than a day before finding Rojas guilty.
The jury also found true a gun allegation against Rojas, who shot the 41- year-old victim in the head, then dumped her body near Turnbull Canyon Road and Skyline Drive, where it was found less than a month later, according to Deputy District Attorney Babette Huley.
Rojas stole money from his girlfriend’s bank accounts before and after she was killed, and her blood was found in a Ford Explorer that the two co- owned, according to testimony presented during his trial.
Bullet fragments recovered from the woman’s head were consistent with a gun Rojas had purchased less than a week before the killing, according to expert testimony.
Five days after the killing, Rojas fled to Mexico, where he was found in October 2015.
—City News Service