Escondido

An Escondido man arrested Friday in the Central Valley on suspicion of killing a woman admitted committing the crime to two people, according to court records.

Filomeno C. Huerta, 23, pleaded innocent Monday to murder in the the Sept. 5 slaying of Sylvia Flores, 23, also of Escondido, whose body was discovered in a drainage ditch Sept. 16 in the 14100 block of San Pasqual Road.

Huerta was arrested Friday in Kingsburg and brought to San Diego on Sunday by homicide detectives.

According to a declaration by San Diego Police Detective Richard Thwing, Huerta admitted killing the woman to the two people, who later contacted police. Both said that Huerta told them they would be killed if they ever told police about what he had said.

One of the two said he saw blood on Huerta’s face, pants and shirt Sept. 5, the day of the killing. Huerta told that person, according to the declaration, that he stabbed Flores but that the knife bent, so he then dragged her to the side of the road and hit her with a large rock.

On Sept. 7, Huerta and the witness drove near the location of the body, where Huerta allegedly pointed to where he had left it, the declaration says. That witness later led Escondido police to the site where the body was recovered.

According to Thwing, a broken concrete block with blood on it and a bloody rock were found nearby. At another location, police found a bent knife with bloodstains.

Bail was set at $1 million by San Diego Municipal Judge Frank Brown. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 11.