Sisters Sought After Boyfriend Suffocates

Arrest warrants have been issued for two sisters who, after an argument, allegedly tied up the 42-year-old live-in boyfriend of one of the women, wrapped his head in bed linen and left him in a closet where he died of suffocation, Santa Ana police said Wednesday.

Stephanie Rene Vick, 28, and her sister, Sonya Lee Vick, 33, are being sought in connection with the death last month of Antonio Ariza, Santa Ana Police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said. Investigators believe that the women may have fled to the Midwest, possibly to relatives.

Thomas said the two women allegedly overpowered Ariza, Stephanie Vick’s boyfriend, after the couple had an argument in their house on June 9.

They allegedly tied Ariza’s limbs with television cable, wire and rope, and wrapped his head in bed linens, making him appear mummy-like, Thomas said. Ariza’s body was discovered in the closet five days later by another sister, who called police.

Thomas said Ariza is believed to have been alive when Stephanie and Sonya Vick left the house in the 1700 block of West Richland Street. But authorities have not been able to determine the exact time and date Ariza suffocated.

Ariza was a maintenance worker in Orange County. Thomas said she had no indication whether the two sisters were employed.

Thomas said she did not have details of the argument between Ariza and Stephanie Vick and declined to release further information for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

On Wednesday, one neighbor said he recalled hearing loud noises coming from the sisters’ home on the night of the incident.

“I heard them yelling or screaming,” said Ruben Villasenor, who lives down the street from the faded yellow, single-story house. “It was about 2 to 3 o’clock in the morning.”

After a few days, Villasenor said, one of the children in the neighborhood “started smelling something funny. He told his mom and dad and they called the cops.”