*NEWS RELEASE*
MAN CONVICTED OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER FOR HIS PART IN THE BRUTAL 2003 MURDER OF ONTARIO GIRL

RIVERSIDE - On Sept. 3, 2009, a Riverside County jury convicted an Upland man for his part in the 2003 murder of a teenage girl.

Victor Aaron Alburto Lozada, who turned 36 the same day he was convicted, is the third and final defendant to be convicted in the August 2003 murder of 18-year-old Jessica de la Torre in August 2003. The victim was tortured and robbed before her body was left in a secluded field in the Rubidoux area of Riverside County.

Jesus Guadalupe Velazquez Penuelas, 26, was previously convicted of first-degree murder and in August 2008 sentenced to death. Sergio Rojas Arias, 25, was also convicted in the murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Both are from Riverside.

The victim trusted Penuelas because they worked together at the same market before Penuelas hatched a plan to rob her of $7,000 she had been saving to buy a car. During the robbery and before the murder, Jessica was slashed at least nine times on her shoulders and legs to get her to reveal the PIN number for her ATM card. The defendants tried to use Jessica's ATM card to get to her money but did not succeed after trying at several banks. Lozada drove a car and followed Penuelas to the secluded field where Jessica's body was dumped. Lozada then drove Penuelas to another location where Penuelas abandoned the de la Torre family car he had stolen. The two men then drove to meet with Arias who had been trying to use the stolen ATM card at various banks.

"The brutal murder of this innocent young girl could not have happened without the participation of Lozada," Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said. "All three of these murderers have now been held accountable for their involvement in Jessica's murder."

Lozada is set to be sentenced on Oct. 1, 2009, in Dept. 65 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The case, RIF111846, was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez.