Investigation Continues in Teen’s Slaying

Detectives said Monday they may need up to two months to gather enough evidence to file murder charges in the slaying of a 15-year-old Oxnard girl.

Edgar Alberto Fuentes, 22, remains the prime suspect in the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend, Gabriela “Gabby” Maldonado.

After being arrested last week in the killing, Fuentes was released Monday by authorities and then immediately re-arrested on a probation violation.

Fuentes had been scheduled to be arraigned on murder charges Monday afternoon in the shooting last week of Maldonado. But the case was not filed with the court, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Montijo.

“We still have more investigating to do and our follow-up work,” Montijo said. “We certainly hope to file on him . . . he’s our prime suspect.”

A suspect must be charged within two working days of arrest or be released from custody.

Fuentes, who was on probation for a 1994 armed robbery, was re-arrested Monday on suspicion of violating his probation and remained in custody, court officials said.

Fuentes is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on the new charge, a spokeswoman for the jail said.

Detectives still hope to file murder charges against Fuentes, he said. But because the crime lab will need as much as two months to test some of the physical evidence they have collected, it could be that long before they are ready to file murder charges, Montijo said.

Because Maldonado, an Oxnard High School sophomore, was seven months pregnant, officials said Fuentes could be eligible for an additional murder charge for the killing of her fetus.

Fuentes was arrested Thursday after detectives tracked him down at the office of his probation officer.

Friends of Maldonado told authorities they last saw her arguing with Fuentes on Tuesday evening. Her body was found the next day, dumped by the side of Victoria Avenue near the Santa Clara River bridge, with gunshot wounds to her head and abdomen.

Fuentes told the woman who lived with Maldonado that he had gone out with his girlfriend and then dropped her off back home about 11 p.m. He said he watched her walk over and talk to two girls who were standing by a white car that had its engine running.

Late Monday, a local nonprofit organization, the Faith Connection, held a vigil at the spot where Maldonado’s body was found. Earlier in the day, family members mourned the young girl at a memorial service at Oxnard Our Lady of Guadalupe church in the La Colonia neighborhood where she lived.

Authorities said Monday that detectives are still looking for anyone who may have seen a car parked next to Victoria Avenue at the Santa Clara River bridge Tuesday evening. Possible witnesses are asked to call Sgt. John Fitzgerald at 654-2824, or the Sheriff’s Department at 654-2311.