LOS ANGELES – Geovanni Borjas pleaded no contest today to murdering and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman whose bodies were found dumped near Los Angeles freeways less than a year apart.
“Both families have endured a tremendous and incalculable loss,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. “The pain for the victims’ families will never go away but I want to make sure they continue to receive the services they need as they move forward.
Mr. Borjas finally took account for his heinous actions and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. I also want to thank the investigators and prosecutors in this case and recognize their hard work that led to today’s result.”
Borjas, 38, entered his plea to two counts each of first-degree murder and forcible rape and one count of kidnapping. He also admitted the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of a rape and a kidnapping.
Borjas was convicted of killing Michelle Lozano, 17, who disappeared on April 24, 2011. Her body was found a day later near Interstate 5 in Boyle Heights.
He also murdered Bree’Anna Guzman, 22, who vanished in late December 2011. Her body was discovered about a month later near the Glendale Freeway.
Both victims were sexually assaulted and DNA evidence recovered at both crime scenes tied Borjas to the murder.
[The NY Post reported: LAPD investigators then turned to a controversial DNA testing technique known as familial DNA testing, which allowed them to compare evidence from the crime scenes to law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime.
The search resulted in a match to Borjas’ father, whose DNA was on file from a prior arrest.
Detectives began to follow Borjas and collected his DNA after he spit on a sidewalk. The sample matched the DNA that was collected from the crime scenes, and Borjas was arrested in May 2017.]
He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.
LACDAO
