KAYLA WOOD - 16 yo (2006) - Moreno Valley CA

One of
two juries has reached a verdict in the killing and torture of a
16-year-old runaway girl who was found brutalized in a burning abandoned
Moreno Valley home. The jury for Jose
Solorza, 18, returned a verdict to court staff at 2:45 p.m.
Tuesday in the murder trial for Kayla Wood, after about six hours
of deliberations. The verdict was ordered sealed and did not indicate
guilt or acquittal. It is scheduled be read at 1:30 p.m. Friday,
according to court records. A second jury
began deliberations this afternoon in the case of Roman Aldana,
22, who is also charged with murder and torture in Kayla’s death.
The
court ordered Solorza’s verdict will be read Friday, regardless of
whether Aldana’s jury has returned a verdict by that time.
The two men are accused of stabbing Kayla 133 times and
killing her in an abandoned duplex in Moreno Valley in September
2006. In his testimony, Solorza admitted to killing Kayla, but
said he only did so because he feared for his life from Aldana.
Solorza told investigators Aldana approached him
about killing Kayla because he feared he had gotten her pregnant
and that she had witnessed him commit a shooting. His defense
attorney argued Solorza had no motive to kill her and was
intoxicated, unable to comprehend his actions.
Solorza said he then slit Kayla’s throat with Aldana, slicing her from
head to toe and raping her with beer bottles. Prosecutors said
Aldana tried to light her hair on fire before she tried to put
out. She was found that afternoon in a bathtub full of water, and
the house set ablaze. If convicted,
Solorza could face life in prison without the possibility of
parole. Aldana could face the death penalty. Solorza is ineligible
for the death penalty because he was 15 when the time occurred. His
cousin, Anthony Bobadilla, pleaded guilty in January to involuntary
manslaughter in exchange for testifying against both men and a
23-year prison sentence.

An 18-year-old man was convicted today of torturing and killing a
runaway teenage girl he used for sex, then trying to set a fire
to cover up the crime.
Jose Alfredo Solorza was the second defendant to be convicted of the
Sept. 9, 2006, murder of 16-year-old Kayla Lorrain Wood.
Solorza’s jury reached a verdict Tuesday, but it had been sealed
pending the outcome of the trial of co-defendant, Roman Gabriel Aldana,
who was convicted Thursday.
Separate juries found the defendants guilty of murder and the special
circumstance allegation of torture. Solorza, who was additionally
convicted of arson, is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.
Because he was a minor when he committed the crimes, Solorza faces 25
years to life in prison, with another six years for the arson
conviction.
Aldana, 22, could face the death penalty. The penalty phase of his
trial is slated to get under way next Wednesday and last about a week.
Aldana and Solorza met Kayla in Moreno Valley and partied with her in
an abandoned duplex before the fatal attack, according to prosecutors.
Riverside County Deputy District Attorney John Henry described the
murder as “sadistic,” relying on Solorza’s statements to sheriff’s
investigators and the testimony of his cousin, 19-year-old Anthony
Bobadilla, who described himself as an unwilling participant in the
girl’s murder.
Bobadilla, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and
kidnapping in January, is expected to receive a 23-year prison sentence.
According to Henry, on the morning of the murder, Solorza and Aldana
were having sex with Kayla in the shower of the duplex when Solorza
slashed her throat with a razor blade. In the ensuing 45 minutes,
Solorza and Aldana used a knife and
screwdriver to stab the girl “literally from head to toe,” the
prosecutor told jurors in his closing statement Monday. He said the
defendants were intent on making Kayla’s death “as painful as possible.”
Solorza and Aldana sexually assaulted the dying girl with a soft
drink bottle, then stabbed her until she fell unconscious, at which
point Solorza dumped her in a bathtub full of water, apparently to drown
her, Henry said.
“She suffered 133 sharp force injuries, and only three were fatal,”
he said.
About a week before her death, the teen had run away from a group
home for troubled youths in Moreno Valley. The blond, blue-eyed girl may
have been trying to locate a relative when she met up with Aldana at a
park, according to the prosecution.
Solorza took them to the abandoned duplex on Cactus Avenue, where his
mother lived until the residence was condemned. The defendants decided
to kill Kayla because Aldana believed she was pregnant, according to
trial testimony.
Solorza tried to torch the duplex to eliminate any evidence, but the
effort failed.

A judge
sentenced the final defendant to death Friday in the 2006 torture
and murder of a 16-year-old Moreno Valley runaway.
Roman Gabriel Aldana, 23, was led out of a Riverside courtroom in
handcuffs and ordered to report to death row at San Quentin State
Prison for his role in the death of Kayla Wood.
Aldana was convicted of orchestrating Kayla's murder, accused of
threatening and coercing two then-15-year-old cousins to carry out
the attack.
Though
Aldana did not actually kill Kayla, he was convicted of first
degree murder for convincing another runaway, Jose Solorza, to stab
Kayla 133 times as Aldana laughed. "As the
victim was terrified and begged him to stop, the defendant
heartlessly ignored her cries for help," said Riverside County Superior
Court Judge Jean P. Leonard. "His actions were cold, callous and
brutal. The weight of those crimes is enormous. It's impossible
to believe he was only a passive participant. He was not a
follower, but a leader of these attackers."
The sentence came following a jury penalty phase and a verdict that
recommended Aldana should face execution. The judge denied a motion
for a new retrial and a request to reduce the sentence to life
in prison without parole. Kayla's mother,
Tamara Wood, and Aldana's mother and stepfather sat on separate
sides in the back of the courtroom during the hearing. They did
not speak. In April, Solorza, now 18, was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison on a murder and torture conviction. Solorza's cousin, Anthony Bobadilla, 19, pleaded guilty before
the trial earlier this year to voluntary manslaughter in exchange
for his testimony and a 23-year prison sentence. Bobadilla said that he and his cousin felt threatened by Aldana.
He testified that Aldana ordered him to attack Kayla. Bobadilla
refused to stab her, but he threw a toaster at her head. Police found Kayla's body Sept. 9, 2006 in the bathtub of a
burning duplex on Cactus Avenue in Moreno Valley. Prosecutors
said she was stabbed, sexually assaulted, beaten with beer
bottles and her hair was set on fire. She was still alive when
her three killers left the duplex. Kayla had run
away from Abby's Adolescent Development Center 10 days earlier.
She met Aldana when they went to the abandoned duplex Solorza
used to share with his mother. After drinking
heavily, the next morning Aldana asked Solorza to help kill Kayla
because he was afraid she was pregnant, according to testimony.
Both men had sex with Kayla and then Solorza
began stabbing her. During the attack, she cried out, "Why are
you doing this to me?" The judge said there was evidence that Aldana was emotionally scarred by his childhood. He began drinking at age 12 and used methamphetamines regularly.
He was kicked out of his home in 10th grade and was living on the
streets, between friends and abandoned homes.
"There's no question he was aware that what he did was wrong. He
was in a position to stop these events and did nothing. None of
this would have happened without the defendant," Leonard said.
The case will now go through automatic appeals. The
state currently has a moratorium on all executions, stemming
from a 2006 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals. "What he did epitomizes how cruel people can be to other people," Deputy District Attorney John Henry said. "He inflicted pain and torture on a 16-year-old girl who had done absolutely nothing to him."

This is how I came across this website. We went to the same school and we were in the same grade. That night my friends and I were on our way home and passed by the house in flames. I had that gut feeling something was terribly wrong. The next day we saw it again half way burnt down with investigators and bulldozers. Eventually within a couple weeks the house was gone. Perris and Cactus is the intersection in Moreno Valley CA. Obviously an empty lot now. If any one passes by, try to stop by and leave her a flower or something sweet if you can. I was a foster child myself so I can understand why she was in the troubles she was. When you are a teenager you don't think of the horrific things that could happen when you runaway. You just hope to make a better life for yourself. She did nothing wrong, I remember reading that she had her Aunts phone number in her pocket. All she really wanted was a home and a way to get there. I also came across a testimony from one of the younger cousins in circa 2009 who described a gruesome and brutal attack on the poor girl by every little detail. I believe they took that down. He said all he could see was her face and body covered in blood and that she hid in the closet to hide from the eldest cousins who were attacking her. It was impossible for her to escape it seems. We were also the same age, so I felt for her a lot. God bless you Kayla. May your suffering be long gone and over. I hope you have had the best 8 years in your heavenly home. We will not forget you. I am so thankful for the death penalty in this case.

It was a heinous painful way to die.  Poor girl.