Arraignment delayed for teen girl accused of killing grandparents in Rosemead

ROSEMEAD — Arraignment has been postponed for a 14-year-old girl accused of stabbing her grandparents to death along with her 21-year-old boyfriend, authorities said.
Sophia Cristo of Rosemead, who is being charged as an adult with two counts of murder, is due to appear Sept. 2 in Los Angeles County Superior Court to be arraigned, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.
Also charged in the case is 21-year-old Rodolfo Lopez, a resident of the San Gabriel Valley.
Cristo appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday but did not enter a plea, Gibbons said.
Cristo and Lopez are accused of fatally stabbing Cristo’s grandparents, 71-year-old Jack Bezner and 64-year-old Susan Bezner, Aug. 9 as they laid in their bed in their home in the 4200 block of Arica Avenue in Rosemead, investigators said.-
The granddaughter and her boyfriend were arrested two days after the slaying after they were found driving the Bezners’ SUV in El Paso County, Texas.
Officials are working to have Lopez extradited back to California, which may take weeks.
In addition to two counts of murder, Cristo and Lopez are both accused of the special allegations of multiple murder, using a knife in the crime and causing great bodily injury, District Attorney’s officials said in a written statement.
Both Jack and Susan Bezner died of “multiple sharp force injuries,” Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.
Because of her age, Gibbons said, Cristo is not eligible for the death penalty. The maximum penalty she could face, if convicted as charged, is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty against Lopez, officials added.

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