Man Arrested In Stacey Aguilar Murder

HAYWARD - A Hayward-area man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of killing 22-year-old Stacey Aguilar, of San Jose, according to police.

Esmid Valentine Pedraza, a 23-year-old resident of unincorporated Hayward, was taken into custody by detectives on a homicide warrant, according to police.

Aguilar’s body was found with numerous gunshot wounds in a rural area near Morrison Canyon Road in Fremont Saturday afternoon.

Also on Patch: Person Of Interest Held In Stacey Aguilar Murder

She was last seen three days earlier leaving a party in the vicinity of Silva Avenue and Jackson Street in Hayward, police said.

Hayward Police Chief Diane Urban has said that investigators believe Aguilar was killed in Hayward before her remains were disposed of in Fremont.

Aguilar’s disappearance was initially investigated as a missing person case, but it was reclassified as a homicide before investigators found the body due to unspecified evidence indicating “that this was more than a missing person,” Urban said.

Hayward police said the investigation is ongoing, and further details will not be released until the case is formally reviewed by the district attorney.

-Bay City News