Woman, 18, Held on Suspicion of Murder

An 18-year-old woman was being held Monday in connection with the slaying of a 20-year-old college student whose body was found last month in the trunk of his burning car in a remote area of Irvine, authorities said.

Helen Mo, a management student at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, was arrested Thursday at her Monterey Park home, police said. Mo has two previous burglary convictions, meaning that a conviction in the latest case would be a “third strike.” She is being held on $500,000 bail at Huntington Beach Jail, with arraignment set for Feb. 18.

The charred body of 22-year-old Yichen Eric Liu of El Monte was found Jan. 24 in the trunk of his gray Honda Accord. Liu’s hands had been tied before he was locked inside the trunk, and he might have been alive when one or more people set fire to the car after pouring gasoline on it, Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato said.

A white Honda Civic, confiscated for forensic testing, fits the description of a vehicle seen in the area at the time of the slaying.

Investigators also are seeking 22-year-old Sunny Wong of La Puente, who is not a suspect in the case but is sought for questioning, Allevato said. Ho and Wong have ties to a San Gabriel Valley gang, he said, but the slaying does not appear to be gang-related, and Liu was not known to have gang ties.

Investigators believe a dispute over personal property could have been the motive in the killing. “She had something he wanted back,” Irvine Police Sgt. Tom Little said of Ho. She and Liu were classmates, police said.

Police ask that anyone with information about the case call Investigator Gary Cain at (949) 724-7171.