Man charged with murder in connection with slaying of Baldwin Park woman

BALDWIN PARK >> Prosecutors Thursday charged a Baldwin Park man Thursday with murder in connection with the death of a woman at her Baldwin Park home last month, officials said Thursday.
Juan Carlos Santana, 42, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and receiving stolen property the day after Patricia Sigala Salva was found dead Oct. 18 inside her home in the 3700 block of Idaho Street in Baldwin Park, according to Los Angeles County booking records and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials.
Prosecutors charged Santana Thursday with the murder of Patricia Sigala Salva, according to a felony complaint filed in Pomona Superior Court. Sheriff’s and coroner’s officials have declined to release any information regarding the woman’s identity, however public records indicate she was in her early-60s and had lived at the Baldwin Park home for at least 20 years.
Salva had been shot, according to court documents. She died sometime between Oct. 16 and Oct. 18, when her body was discovered.
He was initially charged with burglary and receiving stolen property, however prosecutors have since added the charge of murder, district attorney’s office spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said. He was scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge Jan. 8 in Pomona Superior Court.
Prosecutors also accused Juan Santana of the special allegations that he personally used a handgun in the crime, and that he committed the murder during the coarse of a burglary, according to a felony complaint filed in
Arrested and charged in the same case as Juan Santana was 19-year-old Andres Javier Santana and 44-year-old Deborah Jean Curiel, according to officials and booking records. Both were jailed Oct. 19 on suspicion of receiving stolen property.
The elder Santana was being held without bail, records show, while Andres Santana has been released on bail pending legal proceeding, and Curiel was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.
The relationships among the suspects were not clear, nor was their relationship with Salva. The suspects’ cities of residence were also not available.
Numerous calls in recent weeks to handling detectives at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide have not been returned. And sheriff’s investigators ordered a “security hold” on the case at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, preventing the release of any information, coroner’s officials said. The security hold remained in effect Thursday.
Police said the woman’s body was discovered after residents reported suspicious circumstances at her home.
Someone called Baldwin Park police to report seeing a person running out of the garage of the home with an item believed to be beer, police said. Neighbors also told police they had not seen the woman who lives at the home in several says.
Lt. Ed Hernandez of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said the woman had rented space in the house to roommates in the past, but was living alone at the time of her death.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email