BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Grand Jury has handed down an indictment against the Inglewood man accused of raping and killing 13-year-old Patricia Alatorre.
Armando Cruz is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment next week, District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a news release.
A gag order has been issued in the case and Zimmer said she could not provide further comment.
With an indictment, it’s not necessary to hold a preliminary hearing and the case, which has received intense media coverage, can proceed to trial.
Alatorre was initially reported as a runaway July 2 of last year. But a neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera captured Alatorre entering a white pickup, and conversations on her Instagram account showed a man offered to pay her for sex acts and threatened to leak inappropriate photos of her online.
The man was identified as Cruz and Los Angeles police located him at a studio apartment in Inglewood, the documents said. A white pickup registered in Cruz’s name and matching the description of the suspect vehicle was parked near the apartment.
Cruz told police he communicated with Alatorre through the app and twice met her in Bakersfield. He described in detail how he killed her in Bakersfield when she resisted him on the second occasion and how he disposed of her body after driving back to Los Angeles, the documents said.
