The blood and broken acrylic nails helped resolve a grim Ventura County murder, which ended on Friday, was convicted Friday after a couple beat and murdered the man’s ex-girlfriend.
The jury found Margarita Jimenez, 34, of Oxnard; Jorge Garfias, 38, guilty of first-degree murder by Yanelly Vargas, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the attack took place minutes before midnight on St. Patrick’s Day 2024.
Prosecutors said Garfias used text messages to attract his ex-girlfriend Vargas outside a bar in Oxnard. He and his new girlfriend Jimenez then took Vargas to a small alley in the nearby industrial area and began to beat her up. Authorities say Vargas tried to escape the area on foot, but the couple followed her on Garfias’ truck.
At 11:53 p.m., the Oxnard Police Department received a report of a fight between a man and a woman on Woolley Road and Industrial Avenue.
When the caller is online, gunfire sounds.
The surveillance camera footage captured Jimenez driving out the truck with a pistol and following Vargas. Prosecutors said she then shot Vargas in the chest and tried to shoot her for a second time before jumping back to the truck and fleeing the area with Garfias.
When the officers arrived, they found that 30-year-old Vargas was not responding.
The couple disappeared, but left a piece of evidence. Investigators recovered a rope of blood, a costly 9mm shell casing, a path of blood and acrylic nails that later matched Jimenez, prosecutors said.
Vargas was taken to the hospital and later died. In addition to the gunshot wound to the chest, Vargas suffered multiple blunt force injuries and showed signs of strangulation.
According to a woman who witnessed an attack on a nearby apartment during the trial described the bloody scene. Ventura County Star.
The woman said, “We hear crying, like a terrifying scream.”
The couple was arrested on April 3, 2024 and detained without bail, prosecutors said. Both of them plead not guilty to the murder and the kidnapping of Vargas.
According to the Ventura County star, prosecutors argued that the murder was motive for Jimenez’s jealous Vargas.
The jury found the murder guilty and found Jimenez’s intention to release the gun. The two were not convicted of kidnapping charges and returned to court on Monday to conduct a special trial against other special charges and aggravated factors.
“Thanks to the Oxnard Police Department for their swift investigation to find the perpetrators of this terrible murder,” the deputy deputy deputy. Atti. Hyla Schneir said in a statement. “We thank the jury for their attention and careful consideration of the evidence. We hope this judgment brings a sense of closure to Yanelly’s family and friends.”
