LOS ANGELES (AP) – Detective work decades after fire swept through a Los Angeles apartment building filled with poor immigrants has led to arrests of alleged gang members and the prospect of murder charges for the deaths of seven children, three women and two late-term fetuses, authorities said Monday.
“They just would not let this case go,” Police Chief Charlie Beck told a news conference.
Authorities alleged that the 1993 fire was set as revenge against an apartment manager who tried to stop rampant drug dealing in the building during an era that Beck called “the zenith of violent crime in Los Angeles.”
“A new manager came into the location and tried to do the right thing and stop the narcotics sales,” Beck said. “We believe these horrible murders were done to facilitate drug sales.”
Ramiro Valerio, 43, of Palmdale, and Joseph Monge, 41, of Montebello were arrested Feb. 3. Johanna Lopez, 51, was already in custody on related charges and was to be formally arrested in the new case on Tuesday. Valerio was held on $25 million bail. Monge was held on $2 million bail.