It’s been more than 10 years since two young women from California were murdered and raped just months apart in Lincoln Heights.
The grieving families of 17-year-old Michelle Lozano and 22-year-old Bree’Anna Guzman made statements Monday just before the man convicted of the crimes was sentenced.
“It’s been 11 years since my little sisters, Michelle Lozano and Bree’Anna Guzman, were brutally murdered, taken away from us,” said Marco Flores. “We finally get to stand here and get some justice.”
Michelle Lozano was raped and murdered in April 2011. The same year, a day after Christmas, 22-year-old Guzman was also raped and murdered. Their bodies were later found on Los Angeles highways.
Their families did not know they would come together in their grief and pursuit of justice.
“I myself joining vigils not knowing the family of Michelle Lozano,” said Patricia Martinez, Guzman’s aunt. “Not knowing nine months later, almost close to a year later, I’m going to be doing the same for my own niece.”
DNA evidence led authorities to charge Geovanni Borjas in 2017.
“And you smirk as if these are lies brought on you,” said Darlene Duran, Guzman’s mother. “Don’t forget you disgusting gross pervert, that DNA says otherwise.”
Borjas pleaded no contest in October. While he said Monday he hoped he’d be able to tell “his side of the story,” the prosecution firmly stressed he had a chance to testify, adding he chose to plead no contest to all of the charges.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler sentenced Borjas to life without the possibility of parole, then added that in his decades of experience he’d never found anyone as cold blooded.
“An assortment of murderers that runs the entire gamut of every kind of murder, under every kind of circumstance,” said Fidler. “I’ve never found anyone as cold blooded. There was no reason for these crimes.”
“I sometimes cry when I see young moms with their kids just having a good old time. I just stare at them thinking that should be Bree’Anna,” said Guzman’s father, Richard Duran.
Lozano’s stepbrother, Jose Bañuelos, spoke on behalf of her father, thanking detectives, the prosecution, and Judge Fidler. “And you, your honor, for giving us this gift of justice this holiday season,” said Bañuelos.
“It’s unfortunate we’re walking out of here without the death penalty, which he should be serving,” said Flores.
“I just want it to be accounted for that our pain will never be healed. Some sort of justice is being served today, but when it is your day, and it’s your final day, and God has that calling, that’s when justice will truly be served,” said Mariana Salas, Guzman’s cousin.
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