A man pleaded not guilty this week to fatally stabbing his 82-year-old grandmother in Palmdale in an attack that also left his mother wounded.
Richard Jesus Flores, 29, is charged with the murder of his grandmother, Maria Valenzuela, with whom he lived, and the attempted murder of his 56-year- old mother, who was injured as she tried to shield the older woman on March 30, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The case includes allegations that Flores used a letter opener and a garden tool as deadly weapons and that he inflicted great bodily injury.
Deputies responding to the attack in the 37000 block of Springfield Street encountered Flores walking down the street covered in blood, according to Deputy Trina Schrader of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau. Flores allegedly told the deputies he was involved in the attack to which they were responding.
When deputies got to the residence, they found Flores’ mother, who led them to Valenzuela’s body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Flores’ mother was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Flores—who was arrested that day—has remained jailed since then in lieu of $2 million bail, and faces up to 33 years to life in prison, ifconvicted as charged.
He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom July 26, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine, if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
