Trio faces murder trial

Three people have been ordered to stand trial for murder of a woman who was suffocated after a party in National City in 2017. The motive was believed to be robbery.

The preliminary hearing for the trio had originally been estimated to last two weeks involving the death of Alexandria Nicole Smith, 30, but Deputy District Attorney Matthew Williams revised it after calling five witnesses over two days.

A new special circumstance of murder during a kidnapping was added against Jonnie Alexander Isaguirre, 24, Amber Star Suarez, 39, and Pablo Victor Valadez, 37. They all pleaded not guilty before San Diego Superior Court Judge Stephen Stone.

Isaguirre and Suarez are also charged with the special circumstance of murder during a robbery as Smith’s car, phone, purse, and other belongings were taken during the party at Suarez’s house in National City on Oct. 3, 2017. Isaguirre, Suarez, and Valdadez are also charged with the special circumstance of murder during torture.

If convicted of first-degree murder and special circumstances, they face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A deputy medical examiner testified the cause of death was asphyxiation.
The hearing was shortened because National City Police detective Kenneth Springer and Leiderson Zeferino, a former detective who is now a DA investigator, testified about interviews they had with many witnesses without calling those same witnesses to testify.
Springer and Zeferino testified about their interviews with two former defendants, Crystal Lopez Melendez, 35, and Maria Yvette Pereira, 28, who have pleaded guilty. Lopez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping while Pereira pleaded guilty to robbery.
Both Lopez and Pereira signed cooperation agreements with the DA’s office. Lopez faces a prison term ranging from 15-20 years to life and Pereira could get a maximum 5-year sentence.

A trial date will be set on Dec. 2 and all of the defendants remain in jail.
Suarez was quoted by witnesses as saying she wanted Smith’s belongings to sell so she could raise bail money for a friend of hers named “Droopy” who was in jail.

A missing person’s report was filed by Smith’s mother after she never returned to her San Diego home. Her cell phone was found in a 7-Eleven dumpster in Vista by a man looking for recyclables. Zeferino testified Valadez threw the phone in the dumpster after wiping it down. He said Valadez is seen on surveillance cameras of throwing the phone in the dumpster.

Zeferino said Valadez held Smith down in Suarez’s house and Lopez tried to inject her with a “hot shot” of some type of chemical, but the syringe broke. The defendants also got high on drugs during the party, he said.

Her car was recovered in Temecula with a lot of WD-40 sprayed inside, as Valadez was quoted as saying the chemical destroys fingerprints.

Her body was found Oct. 12, 2017, off an unmaintained fire road near the Riverside County line and the Pala Casino Resort. A Walmart bag was placed over her head, and some fingers were missing. Lopez claimed she cut the fingers off to avoid any DNA evidence that might be under her fingernails, said Zeferino.