Man Guilty Of Stabbing Death Of UCLA Student

LOS ANGELES, CA — A former Fresno State University student was convicted Tuesday of fatally stabbing a 21-year-old UCLA student whose body was discovered after a September 2015 fire at her Westwood apartment.

Jurors deliberated about a day before finding Alberto Hinojosa Medina, 24, guilty of first-degree murder for the Sept. 21, 2015, slaying of Andrea DelVesco, along with the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a burglary, according to Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila.

The panel also found Medina guilty of one count each of arson of an inhabited structure and cruelty to an animal -- the latter involving DelVesco's dog, which had to be euthanized, along with two counts of first-degree burglary with a person present involving DelVesco's apartment in the 10900 block of Roebling Avenue and another apartment across the street, the prosecutor said.

Medina is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, with sentencing set for July 20 at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors had opted earlier not to seek the death penalty against Medina.

During his opening statement in Medina's trial, the prosecutor told jurors that DelVesco's " life was taken away from her by this defendant ... He stabbed her multiple times to silence her so she could not call out for help."

The woman's dog, Shay Panda, was also "silenced" and was found by firefighters at the foot of her bed, Avila told jurors.

The 21-year-old Austin, Texas, woman -- a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority -- was entering her fourth year at UCLA, where she was studying psychology and Spanish.

Medina -- who had come to the area to visit a friend who attended UCLA -- subsequently drove his red 2010 Nissan Sentra back to Fresno, where he lived with two roommates, the prosecutor said.

Los Angeles police were notified when one of Medina's roommates tried to register a speaker that had been taken along with a laptop computer during the first burglary, and police subsequently went to Fresno, where they recovered items containing DelVesco's DNA at the residence, Avila said.

Defense attorney Debra Werbel had urged jurors to listen to the case with an open mind.

"They have a lot to prove to you in this case," she told the panel. "Was it an accident? .... Was it murder? Were alcohol and drugs involved? Mr. Medina came here for a normal college weekend ... He wasn't running around with burglar tools."

The murder victim's mother, Leslie DelVesco, told jurors that she was notified that the Chihuahua mix her daughter had adopted from an animal shelter was at a veterinary hospital and that she had to decide "whether to keep her on life support even though she had severe brain damage and couldn't breathe on her own."

She said she decided "to let her go and be with Andrea."

Another witness, Conner Kirk, testified that Medina had once been a member of a fraternity at Cal State Fresno and identified the letters on the back window of Medina's car as representing the letters of that fraternity.

Co-defendant Eric Marquez, 25, was attending UCLA when he was charged with murder and two counts of first-degree burglary with a person present, but subsequently pleaded guilty to one count each of burglary and being an accessory after the fact. He is awaiting sentencing June 7.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock