2 teens charged with murder

Two San Bernardino teenagers were charged with murder Tuesday in the death of an 87-year-old woman who was beaten into a coma with hammers while her mobile home was being robbed.

Investigators say Cesar Pulido and Mike Garcia, both 16, crawled through Storma Del’ Andrae’s window Feb. 11 and used hammers to pummel her in the head.

Del’ Andrae was left bloody and unconscious while the suspects stuffed a suitcase with jewelry and other valuables, officials said. She suffered a fractured skull, fell into a coma and died Friday.

Pulido was arrested Feb. 13 in Phoenix and Garcia was taken into custody the next day. A third suspect, Nelson Soto, 22, was charged with accessory after the fact for helping dispose of the stolen property and aiding Pulido’s escape to Arizona. Soto and Garcia are gang-affiliated, San Bernardino police said.

Both teens knew Del’ Andrae through their church, and at least one had helped her with yardwork and other chores around her home, police said.

“They knew she was 87 and living alone and they took advantage,” San Bernardino Police spokesman Lt. Scott Patterson said. “They broke in, they attacked her and left her for dead. In my 26 years, I have seen a lot of things, but to see two young men behave so cowardly and beat someone to this extent is shocking.”

Patterson said Del’ Andrae was a retired psychiatrist fluent in four languages and active in her church. She lived in the well-kept Fiesta Hills Senior Mobile Home Park on East Highland Avenue.

The families of the suspects aided authorities in their capture.

“They were turned in by their family members along with the property they had stolen,” said San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Tristan Svare, who specializes in elder abuse. “It’s a violent and sad case and the crime is horrific. A victim like this is already more vulnerable physically to injury, and these two teens assaulted her with hammer blows to the head.”

The teenagers, who will be tried as adults, are being held at Juvenile Hall in San Bernardino. Soto is at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Patterson did not know whether bail had been set.

The teenagers were also charged with robbery, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and receiving stolen property. They could face life in prison, if convicted.

david.kelly@latimes.com