The son of a Los Angeles County fire captain has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murdering a California woman who was shot and abducted from a park.
Gabriel Sean Esparza, 20, has been charged with multiple felonies including murder, kidnapping and attempted rape of 19-year-old Andrea Vazquez.
Mr Esparza entered a not-guilty plea when he made his first court appearance for the brutal slaying on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors have formally filed seven charges against the suspect, according to a criminal complaint submitted in Los Angeles Superior Court.
These also include attempted murder, kidnapping to commit another crime, assault with intent to commit a felony, and two counts of attempted forcible rape.
Vazquez was randomly kidnapped over the weekend while she was in a car with her boyfriend in a Los Angeles park.
While Vazquez and her boyfriend were sitting in the parked car at Penn Park, an armed man approached them and began shooting. Vazquez’s boyfriend fled the scene and when he returned, he “discovered blood” near it and Vazquez was gone.
“At this time, it appears that Andrea Vazquez and male companion were randomly targeted by the suspect at Penn Park,” police said in a statement.