Kidnaping Charges Filed Against Two in Abduction of 3-Year-Old

Kidnaping charges were filed Wednesday against two suspects accused of holding 3-year-old Milan DePillars captive for nearly 72 hours in a case that Los Angeles police described as a bungled attempt to keep the child’s mother from testifying against a former boyfriend.

Elias Hernandez, 26, of Ventura, and Patricia Landeros, 20, of Los Angeles, both pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Municipal Court and remained in custody on $70,000 bail. Each faces a maximum sentence of 13 years.

Detectives said they believe the two suspects were carrying out the wishes of Lawrence F. Floyd, who is expected to be sentenced today to 18 years in state prison for abducting Milan’s mother last year and raping her in a South-Central Los Angeles motel.

Floyd, 27, who pleaded no contest to the charges during his trial in October, was described in court testimony as an obsessed boyfriend who terrorized and assaulted the woman when it appeared that their eight-month relationship had come to an end.

Police had originally speculated that Milan’s kidnaping was retribution for his mother’s testimony, but Lt. Ron Lewis on Wednesday said he now believes the abduction was planned weeks ago in an effort to prevent the woman from incriminating Floyd in the first place.

The orders, however, were late in being carried out, so that by the time the child was taken Friday night, his mother had already testified and Floyd had already accepted a lengthy prison term, Lewis said.

“It should have occurred before it did,” Lewis said of the abduction. “I think they probably gathered pretty quickly . . . that (it was a) we-did-this-for-nothing type thing.”

Police said they were considering the possibility of seeking conspiracy charges against Floyd, who has been in custody in lieu of $300,000 bail for more than a year. His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Dick Tom, said Floyd cared deeply for his ex-girlfriend and had nothing to gain by harming her son.

After Milan’s mother took the stand on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Floyd decided to enter his plea. “He loved her,” Tom said. “He said he didn’t want to put her through any more.”

Detectives would not reveal what evidence linked the two suspects to Floyd, except to say that “there was an acquaintanceship” between Floyd and Landeros, who in turn introduced him to Hernandez. Police said they are looking for a third suspect, who they believe might have grabbed Milan from the porch of his family’s Southwest Los Angeles duplex.

Landeros, described by authorities as a member of a longtime Latino gang in South-Central Los Angeles, was arrested Monday night at the Ventura Beach House Motel in Ventura. Milan, found in the same room, showed no signs of injury or abuse and was reunited later that night with his mother.

Hernandez, who had been renting the room since Saturday, turned himself in to Ventura police about two hours later. Detectives described him as a “self-appointed counselor for gang members” who they said purportedly worked to keep Ventura County youth off the streets but is affiliated with no formal program.

Police raided the motel after receiving a tip that the boy was there. Detectives said there was no ransom demand and no indication of what the suspects planned to do.