LOS ANGELES — A man has pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting and killing a teenage girl and a woman whose bodies were found less than a year apart dumped beside freeways in Los Angeles.
According to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Geovanni Borjas has pleaded no contest on Monday to sexually assaulting and murdering a 17-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman. Their bodies were found dumped by freeways in Los Angeles a year apart.
The DA said according to KTLA, Borjas pled no contest to two counts each of first-degree murder and forcible rape, and a count of kidnapping.
Borjas has been convicted of killing Michelle Lozano, 17, who disappeared on April 24, 2011, according to KTLA. Her body was found the following day by the 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights.
According to the DA, Borjas also admitted to “special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of a rape and a kidnapping.”
Borjas has also been convicted of killing Bree’Anna Guzman, 22. She disappeared at the end of December 2011. Her body was found a month later by the 2 Freeway, according to KTLA.
According to KTLA, both Lozano and Guzman were sexually assaulted.
Accoridng to KTLA, Borjas was arrested in May 2017. It took some time for Lozano’s and Guzman’s cases to be linked by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division. DNA evidence was collected at both scenes that eventually tied Borjas to the murders, according to the DA.
According to KNBC, familial DNA searching was used by the LAPD to narrow down the search for a suspect. This was the second time that the LAPD had used it to find family who were related to a suspect whose DNA was not yet in any kind of database.
Borjas’ DNA was not in any existing database before his arrest, according to KTTV.
“Both families have endured a tremendous and incalculable loss,” District Attorney Gascón said in the news release. “The pain for the victims’ families will never go away but I want to make sure they continue to receive the services they need as they move forward. Mr. Borjas finally took account for his heinous actions and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. I also want to thank the investigators and prosecutors in this case and recognize their hard work that led to today’s result.”
The DA said that Borjas is expected to be sentenced on December 12. He is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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