A mom was stabbed, burned and left next to California highway. Now there’s an arrest in her killing
Homicide detectives say they’ve solved the murder of a woman whose body was found stabbed and burned on the side of a highway in Bakersfield two years ago.
A passing motorist found the body of 27-year-old Karla Terron on Dec. 17, 2022, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She was repeatedly stabbed and her body was set on fire before she was discovered.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, homicide investigators served an arrest warrant in the 1500 block of Knox Street in San Fernando and took Juan Figueroa, 30, into custody on suspicion of murder.
Jail records show that Figueroa is being held in lieu of a $1-million bail and due in court on Friday. Detectives said they are working to make additional arrests in the case and the investigation is ongoing. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office for charges against Figueroa.
Investigators from the Ventura County Cold Case Unit have arrested a suspected serial killer from Mississippi in connection to three unresolved murders in California from 1977.
Terron was last seen alive at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando on Dec. 16, 2022, homicide investigators said. She met with a group of friends, but later went to a home in San Fernando. Her body was found in Bakersfield on the side of Highway 99 around 5 a.m. the next morning, according to authorities.
Her body is believed to have been transported to the side of the highway in the trunk of a white 2021 Honda CRV, sheriff’s officials announced. The vehicle was later found, impounded and DNA evidence discovered inside was traced to Terron, according to homicide investigators who renewed their requests for tips from the public in July.
An autopsy concluded Terron was stabbed to death, according to homicide investigators.
Terron was mother of two children and worked as a waitress at a restaurant near the VFW Post where she was last seen alive.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
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