Mistrial Declared in Trial of Mother for Girl’s Death
A mistrial has been declared in the case of a Salvadoran woman charged with the strangulation death of her 8-year-old daughter, Alba Flores, whose badly beaten and smoldering body was discovered in a San Pedro park last year.
Jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked on manslaughter and sexual molestation charges against Natividad Flores. They acquitted her of murder but found her guilty of a single count of child abuse, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
The defendant had confessed to beating and hog-tying the girl in a bathtub an hour before her death, and to burning and dumping her body. But jurors said they were confused about the degree of her participation in the actual murder. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ryan Rainey said he will refile the charges.
The woman’s boyfriend, Alejandro Lara, and his brother, Martin Lopez, face trial in the death next month.
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