Monterey Park: February 2008 Archives

  Suspected killer Aaron Raigoza holed up at the Desert Sky Motel and RV park in Yucca Valley. He was captured Thursday and appeared in court Friday to face murder charges. No bail in the case. Apparently Raigoza had written letters to his in-laws after the killing of Ana Acosta, his former wife. Family members described the letters to Tania Chatila. In the letters Aaron apparently said he was sorry he had hurt the family.

Here's what Tania wrote after learning about the letters:

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This from Dan Abendschein, working the cop shift this morning:

MONTEREY PARK - A man suspected of killing his estranged wife was arrested in Yucca Valley on Thursday evening, authorities said.

Aaron Raigoza, 34, allegedly shot his wife, Ana Maria Acosta, 32, to death outside her parents' home in the 500 block of South Russell Avenue in Monterey Park earlier this month.

Court documents show that Acosta had three restraining orders against Raigoza dating back to last spring, because of threats on her life.

"I'm going to kill you," Raigoza told Acosta on May 28, 2007 according to court documents. "I'm going to die and you will come with me. You will shed a lot of blood."

Acosta and Raigoza - both employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District - were embroiled in a divorce, which was set for trial on March 8.

Records show that Raigoza was contesting the $1,880 in child support payments he had to pay Acosta each month for their 6- and 7-year-old children.

Raigoza was arrested around 9 p.m., according to Lt. Carrie Mazelin of the Monterey Park police department.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Alhambra Superior Court on Friday morning, she added.

Dan is headed to court for the arraignment this a.m.

Reporter Paul Clinton of the Daily Breeze forwarded this press release from LAUSD regarding a fund for Ana Raigoza.

LAUSD ESTABLISHES CHARITABLE ACCOUNT IN THE NAME OF
SLAIN DISTRICT EMPLOYEE, ANA MARIA RAIGOZA

"Ana Family Fund" to support the victim's two surviving children, ages
7, and 5

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) today
announced the establishment of a charitable account in memory of slain
District employee, Ana Maria Raigoza, 32, who was tragically killed at
her Monterey Park home, Feb. 4. She leaves behind two young children.

"Ana's children will forever be scarred by the senseless death of their
mother," said LAUSD Superintendent David L. Brewer.  "The District
created the fund to allow her friends, co-workers and the general public
to financially support her children during this difficult time."

Members of the public can make their checks out to "Ana's Family Fund"
and send their donations to:

"Ana's Family Fund"
c/o The Office of the Superintendent
Los Angeles Unified School District
333 S. Beaudry Ave, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA  90017

All contributions, which are not tax deductible, will be deposited in an
account in Ana's name at the California Credit Union, which is located
on the second floor of the LAUSD Administrative Headquarters Building in
Downtown Los Angeles.

Raigoza, who worked eight years at the LAUSD, served as a payroll
technician at the time of her death. She is survived by a son, 7, and a
daughter, 5.

The victim's husband, Aaron Raigoza, is being sought for questioning by
the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

LAUSD sort of downplays the Aaron Raigoza reference. He's a suspect in Ana's killing. He was seen leaving the area after she was shot to death.

The shooting death of Ana Maria Acosta, 32, outside her parents' Monterey Park home Monday night stands as another reminder of the nature of temporary restraining orders - sometimes they aren't enough.

Police say Acosta's estranged husband, Aaron Raigoza, 34, is a "person of interest" in the shooting, and witnesses placed him at the scene of the crime.

Turns out Raigoza was named in a TRO filed by Acosta.

...

Attorney Denise Wright, who briefly represented Raigoza, a high school teacher in Huntington Park, wouldn't discuss her former client. Wright did recall Acosta as a "lovely, lovely, reasonable, level-headed woman."

...

Wright said she makes a living representing Los Angeles Unified School District employees and teachers like Raigoza.

"I represent a lot of teachers," Wright said. "They are the nicest people."

...

A man who lives in an apartment complex near King Taco in Baldwin Park called in early Wednesday to talk about a shooting in his neighborhood.

He had a ton of reasons for not wanting his name published, but we'll boil it down to this: He fears for his safety.

The shooting, which police characterized as a drive-by, resulted in the death of a 29-year-old man, according to Baldwin Park police Lt. David Reynoso.

The now-deceased man was reportedly walking on the sidewalk when he was shot twice in the abdomen, once in the thigh and once in the left arm.

Nearby, the caller and several others hit the floor.

"There was like eight to 20 shots," the man recalled. "I thought the first one was an M-80. Boom, boom, boom, boom. They were loud. We didn't know if the shooter was going to come over the wall to the apartment building where I live. Everybody was really scared."

The City Council apparently took the shooting into consideration late Wednesday in a discussion about the future of police Chief Edward Lopez.

Tania Chatila, who covers Baldwin Park for this newspaper, reported a conversation she had Wednesday afternoon with Councilwoman Marlen Garcia.

"She could not comment on Lopez's job security Wednesday afternoon, but did say they were going to be taking everything `into account in evaluating the chief,"' Chatila said.

Including Tuesday's killing, Garcia told Chatila.

"It's really a matter of looking at the community at large and ensuring we are providing the best programs and processes to provide a safe community."

...

A woman was injured and shots were fired in a credit union takeover in Santa Fe Springs.

The robbers apparently bluffed their way into the location by pretending to make a delivery - in a Buick Le Sabre!

Veteran police reporter Ruby Gonzales said the heist "smacks of an inside job."

"Why hit a credit union in a fairly secure location when you can just hit one in a shopping center?"

Police said they've made one arrest in the case and more are pending.

This is basically what our story will say tomorrow:

A woman who was shot and killed near her parent’s home Monday night had just left the police station where she had filed a complaint about her estranged husband, officials said.

Police were searching Tuesday for the man identified as Aaron Leonel Raigoza, 34, a teacher at Henry T. Gage Middle School in Huntington Park. He was identified as a person of interest in the shooting death of Ana Maria Raigoza, 32, police said.

The couple were embroiled in a divorce case in Los Angeles, according to court records. There was at least one hearing on a temporary restraining order in the case. The couple most recently appeared in court on Jan. 22 and were due to return on March 8, court records indicate.

The dead woman is identified as Ana Maria Raigoza. She was shot to death last night. Police are looking for her husband Aaron Raigoza, a person of interest in the case.

Ana Maria worked at LAUSD downtown, according to reporter Amanda Baumfeld.

Raigoza had apparently left the Monterey Park police station just before she was shot to death. MPPD are not releasing domestic violence call logs for the Raigoza residence....they apparently want to give most of their information to FOX News this afternoon at 4 p.m.

MONTEREY PARK - A woman was shot and killed Monday, officials said.

The incident was reported about 6:40 p.m. on Newmark at Russell Avenue. The Sheriff' sdepartment originally placed the crime scene at Garvey. It's actually on Russell just south of Newmark.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene,  said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Ed Hummel.

Detectives from the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau are assisting the Monterey Park Police Department in the investigation, Hummel said.

No further details were available.

At 10: p.m. a television helicopter was hovering above the investigation. Police were out in force on the scene.