Man pleads not guilty to killing woman found in parked car
A 43-year-old Burbank man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he murdered the woman who was found dead in a parked car Friday at his parents’ home.
The man, David Perry, faces five felony counts, including murder, spousal abuse, making criminal threats and animal cruelty, officials said. He also pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Perry was arrested Friday shortly after the body of Dorothy Jean McGuire, 37, of Sunland, was discovered in a parked car at his home in the 500 block of North Sparks Street in Burbank.
Her body was discovered at about 7:30 p.m. by her boyfriend, who went looking for her after she failed to return home the night before.
Los Angeles police detectives took jurisdiction of the case Friday night after Perry allegedly told Burbank officers that McGuire died near La Tuna Canyon Road and the Foothill (210) Freeway in Tujunga. LAPD officials said Perry then led detectives to the location where she died.
He was arrested a short time later and has remained in custody in lieu of $1-million bail. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed the charges on Monday.
LAPD homicide detectives were not available Tuesday to elaborate on the charges of spousal abuse, criminal threats and animal cruelty.
Police detectives and a neighbor said that the scene on North Sparks Street played out at about 7 p.m. Friday when McGuire’s concerned boyfriend arrived at Perry’s residence. He discovered her, apparently unconscious, in the passenger seat of Perry’s black Kia in the driveway of the house, which belongs to his parents.
Burbank paramedics who responded to the 911 call determined that she was dead.
Los Angeles County coroner officials have completed the autopsy on McGuire, but Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said they have deferred the official cause of death pending toxicology tests.
He said the delay is common practice when officials suspect that drugs or some other substance played a part in the death.
Meanwhile, friends and family of McGuire this week started to organize memorials online.
Friends posted a March 31 event at the Steel Pit Sports Grill in Tujunga — a celebration of McGuire’s life because, organizers wrote, “anyone who knew her knows she would have wanted us all to have a good time.”
She was fan of “From the Vomits,” a local heavy-metal band. And friends had set up a Web page for donations to help the family cover the cost of the funeral: https://dorothymcguire.chipin.com/dorothy-mcguire-memorial-fund.
They also posted information for McGuire’s funeral on Facebook. The service is scheduled for 3 p.m. March 10 at Chapel of the Hills in Sunland.