SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 24-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder for beating a 75-year-old homeless woman unconscious and sexually assaulting her in the parking lot of a Tustin church on April 30, 2020. After the attack he dragged the badly beaten woman into nearby bushes and stole her car.

The victim was still unconscious when she was discovered the following morning. Fernando Valdovinos, 24, of Santa Ana, was arrested by Tustin police on May 2, 2020 after they saw him riding in the victim’s car.

Valdovinos has been charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object and force, one felony count of attempted forcible rape, and one felony count of carjacking.

Valdovinos has also been charged with two felony enhancements of causing great bodily injury on an elder, one felony enhancement of attempted premediated murder, and one felony enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury during the commission of certain sex offenses.

He faces life in prison if convicted on all counts. Valdovinos is scheduled to be arraigned on May 20, 2020 in CJ1 and is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.

“The depravity with which this heinous attack was carried out demonstrates just how vulnerable the homeless population – and especially homeless women – is to violence,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is committed to getting justice for this woman who shouldn’t have been living on the streets and couldn’t fend for herself. No one should be forced to endure that kind of viciousness.”

Deputy District Attorney Mena Guirguis is prosecuting this case.