A state appeals court panel has rejected a bid for re-sentencing by a woman convicted along with her then-boyfriend of the murders of four members of her adoptive family in their Pico Rivera home when the two were teenagers more than 25 years ago.
In a ruling Thursday, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal noted that letters between Monica Diaz and Michael Naranjo “support the conclusion that Diaz was well aware of Naranjo’s propensity for violence and desire to murder, shared it and wanted to participate in such a crime along with him.”
Diaz — who was 16 at the time of the attack — is serving a 100-year-to-life sentence stemming from her February 2004 conviction for first-degree murder for the slayings of her uncle, Richard Flores, 42, and cousins Richard, 17, Sylvia Jr., 13, and Matthew, 10, who were stabbed in the early morning hours of July 21, 2000.
Naranjo pleaded guilty in October 2003 to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison. He was Diaz’s high school sweetheart and was 17 at the time of the crimes.
During her trial, Diaz testified that she and Naranjo agreed to stage a fake robbery at the home to draw her family closer because she believed her aunt and uncle — who took her in after her mother died — were having marital problems.
Diaz acknowledged cutting duct tape for her then-boyfriend so her family could be tied up, but she denied taking part in the murders.
The prosecution presented a March 1999 letter in which Diaz wrote to Naranjo that the “best job is to kill people professionally.” She testified that the missive was “just words.”
Diaz was initially sentenced in April 2004 to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but a state appeals court panel reversed a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with her conviction for the attempted murder of her aunt and adoptive mother, Sylvia Flores, who survived the attack.
Prosecutors opted not to re-try the attempted murder count or the multiple murder allegation.
She was re-sentenced in April 2007 — that time to four consecutive 25- year-to-life terms. But a state appellate court panel ruled that a lower court judge should have granted a continuance to allow Diaz’s attorney more time to prepare.
At Diaz’s August 2009 sentencing, her aunt was among those calling for the harshest possible sentence.
“I want her to get life — four life sentences … nothing less … I fear for this community if she were to come out,” Flores said.
Then-Superior Court Judge John A. Torribio called it the “most horrific situation I’ve been involved in,” noting at the 2009 hearing that the family had opened their door to Diaz and her half-sister after their mother died and treated her like their own.
Diaz subsequently sought re-sentencing in 2020 as a result of a change in state law that affects defendants in some murder cases, but Judge Maria Andrea Davalos ruled that she was ineligible. The defense subsequently appealed that decision.