BROTHER RECALLS SISTER'S LAST WORDS BEFORE HER SLAYING.Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer Tears welled in the eyes of Richard Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the as he recalled Monday the last words he exchanged with his only sister, Jennifer, hours before she was brutally slain in Eagle Rock. ``She wanted to pick up a few things from the house, and my last words to her were, `I love you,''' Flores said as he waited for the start of the arraignment A criminal proceeding at which the defendant is officially called before a court of competent jurisdiction, informed of the offense charged in the complaint, information, indictment, or other charging document, and asked to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or as otherwise permitted for David Jaime Del Toro Toro may refer to:
``This loss has just devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. our family. It was so heinous and sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. ... We're praying for justice in this case.'' Del Toro, a decorated, 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. , was arrested Aug. 16 after Jennifer Flores' nude and bloodied body was found on a residential street in Eagle Rock. A mile-long trail of blood and tire tracks led to his home. Authorities have previously said Flores was beaten, then strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. , and that her body was dragged along the pavement by Del Toro's pickup truck. Initially charged with murder and free on $1 million bail, Del Toro was rearrested and had his bail revoked last week after a grand jury indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. him on murder with the special circumstance of torture -- an enhancement that makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted -- along with a separate count of torture. Del Toro's scheduled arraignment Monday on the new charges was postponed until Nov. 28 while he hired a new attorney. Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace said his office will decide in early December whether to pursue the death penalty in the case. Grace has said Del Toro met Jennifer Flores through a mutual friend, but they were not romantically linked. Richard Flores said Jennifer studied English literature in college, and enjoyed reading Jane Austen novels and writing. Their mother died when he was 11, and Jennifer was just 7. They were raised by their father, now a retired Air Force officer. ``I think about her a thousand times a day,'' he said. ``I can still remember the sound of her voice. ... She was beautiful inside and out. She's very kind-hearted.'' ``We only had each other,'' Flores said. ``I feel like we had a special bond.'' Flores said he knew something had befallen his sister when his wife saw Jennifer's car being loaded onto a flat-bed truck behind police tape as she drove through a neighborhood in Eagle Rock. ``Is it Jennifer?'' Flores recalled asking his wife. ``She said yes ... I came home only to find a coroner's vehicle parked outside my house.'' eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com (818) 546-3304 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Richard Flores, about sister Jennifer Flores, above. (2) DEL TORO |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion