Two men will be tried for the murder of a UCLA student within 60 days of Oct. 18, a judge decided Tuesday.
County prosecutors charged Eric Marquez, a former biology student at UCLA, and Alberto Medina, a former Fresno State University student, with the murder of fourth-year psychology student Andrea “Andy” DelVesco in her Roebling Avenue apartment September 2015.
[Related: Preliminary hearing concludes for men accused of killing UCLA student]
A judge recommended in March that Marquez be tried for aiding and abetting murder and Medina be tried for murder during a robbery. Prosecutors also charged both men with burglary and Medina with arson and cruelty to animals because DelVesco’s dog died as a result of the fire Medina set in the apartment.
Medina may face the death penalty if convicted with murder during a robbery.
A recycling worker testified in March that he encountered Medina and Marquez near DelVesco’s apartment shortly before her death. The worker’s testimony indicated that Marquez stayed in his car while Medina entered the apartment. DelVesco’s neighbor testified that she saw Medina running toward Marquez’s car after allegedly murdering DelVesco and setting her room on fire.
Surveillance footage revealed that Marquez and Medina returned to Marquez’s Strathmore Avenue apartment shortly after the murder, at 7:11 a.m. Medina changed his clothes and left in his car from the apartment parking garage.
[Related: LAPD visited UCLA student’s building hours before finding her body]
Investigators later recovered bloodstained clothes in Medina’s Fresno apartment that matched the ones seen by witnesses and on surveillance video. A Los Angeles Police Department criminalist testified she found 15 blood stains in Marquez’s apartment.
Marquez initially told detectives he and Medina were asleep in his apartment at the time of the murder, but later said he did not recall what happened that morning because he was drunk. Marquez’s counsel argued in March that Marquez was not aware of Medina’s plan to rob DelVesco’s apartment.
Medina is being held without bail, and Marquez’s bail is set at $1.1 million.
Medina and Marquez will appear in court Oct. 18 to schedule a specific trial date.
It would’ve been nice for the photo caption to be relevant to the man in the photo. I had to search through archives to find out who he is and how he’s relevant to this case.