Arraignment postponed for man accused of murder in Pomona
The arraignment scheduled this morning in Pomona Superior Court for a man accused of stabbing his cousin's wife to death was postponed to Oct. 22.
Joseph Gary Orta, 34, is accused of stabbing and killing Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta in February and leaving her dead body in a van parked beside the Pomona police station.
Orta, who is currently serving a one-year prison sentence for violating his parole, will be held on $1 million bail when his prison sentence is finished in about February.
Ponce-Orta's family believes Orta had romantic feelings for the Covina woman, and killed her after she rejected his advances.
When Pomona police initially searched the van they did not discover Ponce-Orta's body, and called her family telling them to pick up the apparently abandonded van.
When the family members arrived, they discovered Ponce-Orta's dead body under blankets and clothing.
The family has filed a claim for damages against the city of Pomona for the police failure to do a more thorough search of the van.
The night before the van was discovered, Ponce-Orta's family filed a missing-person's report with the Covina Police Department, said Tracy Ponce, Ponce-Orta's mother.
Continue reading for additional stories on the case.
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Charges filed in woman's death
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) - September 5, 2008
Author: Will Bigham, Staff Writer
POMONA - Prosecutors filed murder charges Friday against a man suspected of killing a 22-year-old Covina woman in February and leaving her body in a van parked near City Hall.
Joseph Gary Orta , 34, is accused of stabbing Eileen Nicole Ponce- Orta to death.
Orta is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 1 in Pomona Superior Court, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Ponce- Orta and her husband allowed Orta to stay in their home when he was released from prison, family members said.
Orta reportedly had a romantic interest in Ponce- Orta . Family members believe Ponce- Orta 's rejection of the ex-convict may have prompted the slaying.
Ponce- Orta was reporting missing Feb. 14 after a family member dropped off Ponce- Orta 's 2-year-old daughter at the Covina Police Department because Ponce- Orta could not be found.
Pomona police found Ponce- Orta 's van in a Pomona City Hall parking lot the morning of Feb. 15, but only conducted a cursory search of the vehicle.
Family members have complained that police did not thoroughly search the van, which had its doors unlocked and windows down, even after learning that Ponce- Orta had been reported missing.
Officers called family members to recover the seemingly abandoned van, and when family members arrived they found Ponce- Orta stabbed to death under a pile of blankets and clothing.
Family members of Ponce- Orta have filed a civil complaint against the city of Pomona seeking monetary damages for family members' injuries and mental anguish as a result of the grim discovery.
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Claim faults police search
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) - September 2, 2008
Author: Will Bigham, Staff Writer
POMONA - Family members of a woman found stabbed to death in February in a van parked outside Pomona Superior Court have filed a claim for damages against the city.
The three family members named in the claim said police told them the van had been searched and that there were no signs of foul play.
Police told the family the van appeared to be abandoned and asked the family to pick it up, according to the claim.
When the family arrived, they found Eileen Nicole Ponce- Orta , 22, stabbed to death under a pile of blankets.
Nicolas Orta , the victim's husband; Tracy Ponce, her mother; and Enrique Ponce, her brother, say police should have thoroughly searched the van because the family had reported Ponce- Orta missing the day before her van was found.
"I'm hoping my claim does make the city of Pomona make changes in the way they release a car to family members," Tracy Ponce said.
"They need to thoroughly check it if the person was the subject of a missing-persons report."
The city has not responded to the claim, which seeks unspecified monetary damages for injuries related to the family members' health and mental anguish.
The claim was mailed July 29 and received by the city July 31. The city has 45 days to accept or reject it.
If the claim is rejected, or if the city fails to respond within 45 days, the family can file a lawsuit in Superior Court.
"The city and our office is reviewing the claim, and following up by attempting to gather all the reports and materials we can in order to properly advise (the city) and respond to the complaint," said City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman.
Ten days after Ponce- Orta 's body was discovered by her family, Police Chief Joe Romero wrote in a Daily Bulletin guest editorial that his department "fell on our face" in responding to the abandoned van.
Romero wrote that police officers cannot be certain that their decisions will always be correct but acknowledged that scrutiny of police decisions is "magnified many times over."
"Pomona police officers hold a great deal of responsibility and therefore, must be ever ready to change 'not so good' work into outstanding work," Romero wrote.
The chief said an Internal Affairs Department investigation into the incident had begun. There has been no public announcement about the outcome of the investigation.
Calls for comment left Tuesday for the Pomona Police Department were not returned.
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