Santa Ana woman charged with murdering a man on New Year’s Eve

Toetu Tesarina Lavea, a 35-year-old Santa Ana resident, was arrested on Saturday on charges of murdering Manuel Ramos, a 46-year-old resident of Santa Ana.

Lavea, a security guard, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

The SAPD was called to a residence at the 1800 block of West 18th St. on Jan. 2, at 6:46 p.m. The police officers found Ramos’ body in the living room of the residence. His upper body had what was termed as “significant damage.”

The SAPD detectives believe that Ramos was killed on New Year’s Eve.

is facing a murder charge in connection with the New Year’s Eve killing of a man in Santa Ana, court records obtained Tuesday show.

The SAPD has not yet clarified why they believe Lavea is the killer.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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