Prosecutors plan to file 12 counts of capital murder with special circumstance allegations today against three people arrested in connection with a 1993 fire at a Westlake apartment building that killed seven children and three adults, including two pregnant women, according to District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said detectives “just would not let this case go,” calling the alleged crime “the most horrific case of arson in the city of Los Angeles history,” during a news conference with Lacey at police headquarters. Alleged gang members Ramiro Alberto Valerio, 43, and Joseph Alberto Monge, 41, were arrested Friday and Johanna Lopez, 51, was charged in 2011 with murder related to the fire and was already in custody