Man gets 25 years to life in prison for the cold case murder of a woman in Santa Ana in 2007

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

Case # 15CF2751

Date: October 6, 2017

MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR COLD CASE MURDER OF WOMAN WHOSE BODY WAS LEFT IN SANTA ANA PARKING LOT IN 2007

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison today for the cold case murder of a woman whose body was left in a parking lot in Santa Ana in 2007.

Defendant: Jose Esteban Cardenas Zuniga, 41, Mammoth Lakes

Found guilty by a jury on July 20, 2017 of: First Degree Murder

Sentence: 25 years to life in state prison

Circumstances of Case:

• On or about Oct. 20, 2007, Zuniga murdered 24-year-old Yacshicka W. by strangling her and leaving her body outside in a parking lot of a commercial business center in Santa Ana.
• Hours later, transients discovered the victim’s body and contacted Santa Ana Police Department, who began investigating this case.
• Orange County Crime Lab investigators collected DNA evidence from the victim’s body and stored it in the state database.
• In 2013, a DNA hit matched the defendant after an unrelated arrest in Santa Ana.
• The Orange County Cold Case Homicide Task Force (OCHTF) reopened the investigation and Zuniga was charged with murder after sufficient evidence was gathered including additional witness interviews.
• At the sentencing today, the victim’s mother, father, sister, and brother delivered victim impact statements to the court pursuant to Marsy’s Law. They spoke about how Zuniga robbed them of their loved one and how Yacshicka’s three boys will never be the same after the loss of their mother.

Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, Homicide Unit

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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718

Michelle Van Der Linden,Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486