It has been over a decade since two young women from Lincoln Heights were murdered and raped within months of each other.
The grieving families of Michelle Lozano, of 17 years old, and Bree’Anna Guzmán, 17 years old, made statements Monday just before the man convicted of the crimes was sentenced.
“They have passed 17 years since my little sisters, Michelle Lozano and Bree’Anna Guzman, were brutally murdered, they were taken from us,” Marco Flores told ABC7. “We can finally stand here and get some justice.”
Michelle Lozano was raped and murdered in April of 2017. The same year, one day after Christmas, Guzmán, aged 11, was also raped and murdered. Their bodies were later found on highways in Los Angeles.
Their families did not know that they would unite in their pain and search for justice.
“I myself joined the vigils without knowing the family of Michelle Lozano,” said Patricia Martínez, Guzmán’s aunt. “Not knowing nine months later, almost almost a year later, I am going to do the same for my own niece.”
The DNA evidence led authorities to charge Geovanni Borjas in .
“And you smile as if these were lies” said Darlene Duran, Guzman’s mother. “Don’t forget, disgusting and disgusting pervert, that DNA says the opposite”.
Although Borjas said on Monday that he hoped to be able to tell “his version of the story” , the prosecution strongly emphasized that he had the opportunity to testify, adding that he had decided to plead not guilty to all charges.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler sentenced Borjas to life in prison without the possibility of parole and then added that in his decades of experience he had never encountered anyone with such sangfroid.
“A variety of murderers that runs the gamut of all kinds of murder, in all kinds of circumstances,” Fidler said. “I have never met anyone with such cold blood. There was no reason for these crimes.”
“Sometimes I cry when I see young mothers with her children having a good time. I stare at them thinking it should be Bree’Anna,” Guzmán’s father, Richard Duran, said.
Lozano’s stepbrother, José Bañuelos, spoke on his father’s behalf, thanking detectives, the prosecution and Judge Fidler. “And you, your honor, for giving us this gift of justice this holiday season,” Bañuelos said.
“It is unfortunate that we leave here without the death sentence, which should be being served,” said Flores.
“I just want it to be taken into account that our pain will never be cured. Today some kind of justice is being done, but when it is your day, and it is your last day, and God has that call, that is when justice will really be served,” said Mariana Salas, Guzmán’s cousin.
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