Couple Arrested in Beating Death of Woman’s Child, 2

A Boyle Heights woman and her live-in boyfriend were in police custody Thursday, held on suspicion of beating the woman’s 2-year-old child to death and then burying her body on a remote hillside.

Maria Gutierrez and Manuel Bonilla, both 22, were booked for investigation of murder and held without bail after police discovered Johanna Gutierrez’s body covered with sand in Azusa Canyon early Thursday morning.

The couple had gone to Hollenbeck police station Wednesday afternoon to report that the child was missing from their home in the 600 block of North Fickett Street since about 5 p.m. the previous day, said Hollenbeck Capt. Art Lopez.

Gutierrez first told police she believed that the child was kidnaped after she had left the child alone in the house and went off to buy medicine. Gutierrez had told police that Johanna was often sick.

But Lopez said police grew suspicious because the couple waited almost 24 hours to report the alleged abduction. “That gives you a clue something was not right,” Lopez said.

Police detectives questioned the pair several times Wednesday and interviewed their friends and neighbors in an attempt to find the child.

Lopez said that Bonilla, a security guard, eventually changed his story, telling investigators that he and Gutierrez beat the child to death because she urinated and cried excessively. Bonilla then volunteered to lead police to the child.

“It was an unusual situation,” Lopez said. “(Detectives) interviewed the suspect and he just decided to change his mind.”

The child’s mother also admitted she participated in the beating that occurred sometime Tuesday, Lopez said.

Four children--a 2-week-old infant and three others of 1, 3, and 4 years--were taken from the house and placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services, a Police Department spokesman said.

Neighbors said the couple, who had been living in the tiny one-bedroom apartment for more than a year, had argued constantly. Some said they heard slapping noises and cries from the apartment.

Adela Oliveras, who lives in a building behind the family, described Johanna as a timid child. But she was often left alone and her diaper was often soiled, Oliveras said.

Johnny Andrade, whose wife was the previous tenant in the apartment, was visibly shaken by Johanna’s death. He said that he had asked Gutierrez and Bonilla if he could adopt the child, but that the pair refused.

“She was something special, she would trust anybody,” Andrade said. “But she didn’t want anybody to touch her.”

The couple will be arraigned today in Los Angeles Superior Court.