ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 12CF3351
Date: March 27, 2015
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for stabbing and murdering his former girlfriend in a Santa Ana alleyway. Luis Antonio Garcia Morales, 26, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury Nov. 24, 2014, of one felony count of special circumstance murder by lying in wait. The sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon was also found true.
On the evening of Nov. 13, 2012, Morales arranged to meet with 21-year-old Maria Isabel Cerrillo, with whom he had a previous romantic relationship, by pretending to be someone else. The defendant met his ex-girlfriend in an alleyway in Santa Ana, murdered her by stabbing her repeatedly, and then fled the scene. The victim died from the multiple stab wounds.
Morales was arrested on the morning of Nov. 15, 2012, by the Santa Ana Police Department, who investigated this case.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim Mendelson of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney
Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718
