Recently in Tony Lopez Perez Category

A trial date was scheduled on Thursday for the Redondo Beach man accused of killing Cori Desmond, but it's likely the proceeding will be postponed.

Tony Lopez Perez, 35, appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court and had another pretrial hearing scheduled for Aug. 13, followed by a Sept. 7 trial date, according to prosecutors.

Perez is accused of killing Desmond, 28, of Torrance, after he encountered her on a street outside his residence early on Feb. 15, 2009.

Based on statements he allegedly gave to investigators, it appears Perez, a restaurant worker and father, strangled Desmond and then dumped her body later that day along a snowy mountain highway near Running Springs.

The Redondo Beach man charged with Cori Desmond's murder appeared in court again Tuesday as the case continues to wind it's way through the justice system.

A San Bernardino Superior Court judge ordered Tony Lopez Perez, 35, back to court on April 8 for a disposition and resetting hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Karen Khim said it is standard to set schedule such a hearing, which will give the attorneys another opportunity to discuss the evidence and any possible pre-trial disposition.

Khim, though, said she doubted a resolution would come prior to trial. She would not discuss what offers, if any, prosecutors have made to Perez.

She added that Perez's defense attorney is still going over the "volumes" of evidence generated during the investigation, and that further DNA test results are still pending.

Perez's attorney did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Perez is accused of killing the 28-year-old Torrance woman, who he encountered on a street outside his residence early on Feb. 15, 2009.

Based on statements he allegedly gave to investigators, it appears Perez, a restaurant worker and father, strangled Desmond and then dumped her body later that day along a snowy mountain highway near Running Springs.

  Friends and family of Cori Desmond are planning to gather Saturday at a Redondo Beach eatery to celebrate the life of the Torrance woman killed just about a year ago.

Desmond's father, Mark Desmond, said everyone is invited to On the Rocks in Redondo Beach at 8 p.m.

Desmond, 28, was killed early on Feb. 15, 2009, after leaving a Redondo Beach bar.
Redondo Beach resident Tony Lopez Perez, 35, is awaiting trial for her murder.

He told investigators he encountered her on the street near his home, strangled her and then dumped her body on a snowy mountain road later that day.

*The correct date for this event is Saturday.

The Redondo Beach man accused of killing Cori Desmond pleaded not guilty to murder on Thursday and was ordered back to court for a pretrial hearing.
Tony Lopez Perez, 35, returns to San Bernardino Superior Court on March 2, according to prosecutors.
Perez is believed to have strangled and sexually assaulted Desmond, 28, of Torrance, early on Feb. 15 after somehow coming into contact with her outside his residence.
The popular bartender was found by a snowy mountain road near Running Springs the next day.

There are days on the court beat where it seems the only way to get it all done would be to clone myself. Tomorrow's gonna be one of those days. It's not rare for me to be faced with multiple court cases at the same time. It is rare, though, that my conflicting schedule is the result of two very high profile cases both at a pivotal point ... 75 miles apart.

My editor and I have spent the last day or so strategizing. Here's what we came up with:

Thursday morning at 8:30, I will attend the pretrial hearing scheduled for Cameron Brown in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. At the hearing, his attorney is expected to argue that the first-degree murder charge be thrown out following two hung juries. There may also be discussion related to his bail (which is currently set at No Bail) and his defense attorneys. I will try to update here, and on Twitter, as soon as things are decided. I'll have a story up on the Web as soon as I can.

That means that the preliminary hearing for Tony Lopez Perez, the Redondo Beach man accused of killing Cori Desmond, will forward without me in a San Bernardino courtroom. Unfortunately, no reporters from our sister paper at the San Bernardino Sun are available, either. So, I have made arrangements to interview the prosecutor by phone later in the day, and I will try to get as much information as I can from her regarding the evidence presented.

Stay tuned, tomorrow's gonna be interesting.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday for the Redondo Beach man accused of killing Cori Desmond, a Torrance woman whose body was found on a San Bernardino snowy mountain road.

Tony Lopez Perez, 35, appeared in San Bernardino County Superior Court Tuesday, which is when the hearing was scheduled, according to Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors will not present their entire case, just enough evidence to convince a judge to hold Perez for trial.

Desmond, 28, was last seen in Redondo Beach the night before her body was found on Feb. 16.

Perez was arrested eight months later after detectives received tips about him cleaning his car. He told investigators he found Desmond on the street, put her in his car and dumped her in the roadside ditch, but denied killing her.

The Redondo Beach man believed responsible for the murder of a Torrance woman whose body was discovered along a mountain highway made his second court appearance Thursday.

Tony Lopez Perez, 35, appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court for a brief hearing, according to Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office in that county.
Perez will return to court Dec. 7.

He is charged with one count of murder for the Feb. 15 death of Cori Desmond. The 28-year-old was last seen alive in Redondo Beach after she left a bar.

Perez was allegedly linked to the crime when investigators found evidence in his truck, which an anonymous tipster said he was cleaning vigorously after Desmond's death.

Tony Lopez Perez pleaded not guilty to a single murder charge this morning during his first court appearance for the slaying of a popular Torrance woman eight months ago.

Perez, 35, of Redondo Beach, appeared for the brief San Bernardino Superior Court hearing via a live television connection from the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, according to Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.

Perez will return to court Oct. 22, Mickey said. He remains jailed without bail.
Perez was arrested Thursday night for the death of Cori Desmond, 28.

Desmond was last seen alive on Feb. 15 by friends at the Bac Street Lounge in Redondo Beach, where she had gone after finishing her bartending job at Beaches in Manhattan Beach.

Her body was found the next day in a bag in the snow along a Running Springs Highway.
Anonymous tips led San Bernardino County Sheriff homicide detectives to Perez, who was seen scrubbing the inside of his truck shortly after Desmond's death.

He sold it to a dealership and detectives later tracked it down and found unspecified evidence inside that they believe proves Lopez killed Desmond.

No details have emerged about the crime, although detectives said they believe the motive was sexual.

A public defender was appointed to represent Lopez, a single father of two who worked as a restaurant manager.

However, no one from the San Bernardino Public Defender's office was available to comment.

Read the complaint here: perez.doc