A 29-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder charges stemming from the killings of his parents inside their Azusa home.
Gabriel Contreras is charged with two counts of murder for the March 15 slayings of his mother, Linda Rodriguez, and his father, Arthur Contreras.
The murder charges include a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations that he used a knife involving both victims and personally discharged a handgun causing great bodily injury and death to his mother.
Contreras is also charged with two counts of assault with a firearm involving two other people the same day, according to the criminal complaint.
Azusa police responded to a home in the 300 block of North Twintree Avenue after receiving a call about a person screaming, and detained a man with numerous apparent knife wounds in front of the residence, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Inside the home, officers found the man’s parents dead, sheriff’s officials said.
Contreras was arrested by Azusa police four days later and has remained in custody since then, jail records show.
His 50-year-old mother died of a gunshot wound to the head and multiple sharp-force injuries, while his 58-year-old father died from multiple sharp force injuries, according to records from the county Los Angeles Medical Examiner.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is expected to decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Contreras, who is due back in a Pomona courtroom on July 28. At that time, a date is expected to be set to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Please Lord Father in heaven, help the courts understand what tragedy happened to these dear people. Our youth are suffering . Parents duffed in silence!!! LordGod we need you.