Mom Seeks Justice for Slain Daughter

Three Orange County men were convicted last week in the sexual assault of an unconscious teenage girl, but the family of a Los Angeles girl who died during a similar attack say they are still awaiting justice.

More than a year has passed since 14-year-old Marisol Hernandez was found dead on a couch after a party in an abandoned South L.A. apartment, her jeans pulled down and stained with blood.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office ruled her death a homicide, saying it probably was caused by a combination of lethal levels of alcohol and a rape so violent that the girl may have been suffocated.

“My daughter did not deserve this,” said Maria Hernandez, Marisol’s mother. “I only care that they give her justice.”

But police have been unable to question David Ponce, 22, who is suspected of sexually assaulting Marisol as she lay face down and unconscious after drinking rum with acquaintances, said homicide Det. Greg Stearns of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Stearns said Ponce is unemployed and known to frequent underground parties in the area. People contacted at Ponce’s address say that they are renting the home and that the family has moved. Neighbors said that Ponce had left the area and that they knew of no family members locally.

Prosecutors from the district attorney’s office, meanwhile, say they don’t have sufficient evidence to issue an arrest warrant for Ponce, and the investigation has stalled.

What police allege happened to Marisol echoes the case of the intoxicated 16-year-old Orange County girl who appeared unconscious during a videotaped sexual assault. The victim testified against her assailants. On Wednesday, a jury convicted Gregory Haidl, 19, the son of a former Orange County assistant sheriff; Kyle Nachreiner, 20; and Keith Spann, 20, of sexual assault.

Marisol was last seen by her mother on Dec. 27, 2003, after spending the previous few days playing Monopoly with some of her 11 siblings. That afternoon, she told her parents that she was going out with a girlfriend.

The following day, Maria Hernandez was called to a nearby address, where Marisol’s body lay on a concrete driveway.

Based on witness interviews, police say Marisol and half a dozen other people went to a party in an abandoned apartment behind a house in the 900 block of West 84th Street. There, she drank a life-threatening amount of rum and passed out on the graffiti-covered sofa, the witnesses said.

Sometime later, three young men arrived. While in another room, one of those young men -- allegedly Ponce -- told another that he wanted to “play with” Marisol, who was still passed out in the living room, police said.

Shortly after, Ponce’s friend entered the living room and allegedly saw him standing over Marisol and adjusting his pants. The other friend of Ponce said he later touched Marisol, but the semen found in her body did not match his DNA, police said.

Marisol was discovered in the morning by other partygoers, cold and unresponsive. Her jeans and the couch were soaked in blood. Her acquaintances panicked and carried her body out onto the driveway, where paramedics pronounced her dead, police said.

An autopsy by the coroner’s office found that Marisol had died as a result of “alcohol intoxication, asphyxia and other undetermined factors.” The report, obtained by The Times, also cited “genital trauma,” a half-inch-wide gash at the opening of her vagina that bled heavily, as a factor contributing to but not related to the immediate cause of death.

Marisol’s blood-alcohol level was .45%, potentially fatal for the 5-foot, 5-inch, 143-pound girl, said Dr. David Whiteman, the coroner’s physician who performed the examination.

There also was evidence that someone had pressed down on Marisol’s body before she died, suffocating her, Whiteman said.

Of the three suspects identified by police, only Ponce has not been ruled out by DNA testing, said Stearns and Det. Dan Myers.

Police requested a warrant for Ponce’s arrest, but were told by prosecutors that they did not have enough evidence against him, Stearns said.

“The decision to file charges is the purview of D.A.,” he said. “We believe we have conducted a complete and thorough investigation, and have identified the person responsible, but the ultimate decision lies with D.A., and we respect that.”

Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said prosecutors don’t have enough evidence to charge Ponce. Asked what evidence is lacking, Robison said, “DNA.”

Lydia Bowdin, assistant head deputy of the sex crimes unit under Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, later said that prosecutors have not formally rejected the case. “In our view, this case is still under investigation,” she said.

But Marisol’s family is frustrated. “My daughter did not just die. They did this to her,” Maria Hernandez said. “They should pay.”

Her daughter was a sweet young woman, she said, who was liked by teachers and had completed eighth grade. She wanted to be a midwife when she grew up, her mother said.

Marisol’s older sister Nancy Hernandez said that it has been difficult for family members to move on.

“I know I would accept it if it was something natural, like being sick,” she said. “But knowing she was killed -- you can’t not think about it. You can’t do anything and not think about it.”