Woman Sent to Prison in Murder of Lover’s Wife
A Bellflower woman was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison Monday for fatally stabbing her boyfriend’s estranged wife and kidnaping the victim’s young sons.
Rosa Maria Duvall, 21, was sentenced for her role in the 1990 death of Carol Ann Lopez, 32, of East Los Angeles. A jury on Oct. 1 found Duvall guilty of second-degree murder, felony kidnaping and child endangerment.
Police said Duvall was romantically involved with the victim’s estranged husband, a bus driver for the Southern California Rapid Transit District. The two had been living together in Bellflower with Duvall’s young son.
According to police and trial testimony, Duvall stabbed Carol Lopez nearly two dozen times on Nov. 27, 1990, then stole her van and abducted the two youngest Lopez boys, 1 1/2 and 2 years old.
Duvall left the children in the van and abandoned it in Lynwood, about 15 miles from the Lopez home, police said. She then hitchhiked back to her Bellflower home, where she was arrested several hours later, police said.
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