Inglewood Man Gets Life Sentence for Murdering Bakersfield Teenager
A man who raped and murdered a 13-year-old Bakersfield teenager was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Armando Cruz, 26, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder, rape and other charges filed in the killing of Patricia Alatorre.
KGET.com reports a neighbor’s surveillance camera captured Patricia, who was initially reported missing, getting into a white pickup late July 1, 2020. Conversations were later found on her Instagram account between her and a man insisting she meet him.
Court documents indicate the man later identified as Cruz was detained days later at his Inglewood home and described in detail how he killed the Alatorre. Cruz directed investigators to where he left her cellphone and the construction site where he dumped her body and set it on fire.
The Kern County District Attorney’s office pursued the death penalty against Cruz but agreed to drop it for guilty pleas on all charges and a stipulated sentence of life without parole.
Posted by Jeff Lemucchi
