People v. Estrada CA1/3

BACKGROUND

In August 2017, an employee at a rural sand mine found Aleli Avila’s body. When sheriffs arrived around 4:00 p.m., they found the victim naked, on her back, legs spread, wrists bound above her head, and covered in blankets, towels, and sleeping bags. According to employees, the body was left sometime after 3:00 p.m. Surveillance video showed a blue minivan on the sand mine’s road around that time. Sheriffs located the van’s owners, who had lent it to Estrada that afternoon. He picked up the van with his cousin “Rod.”

1 An autopsy revealed Avila died from strangulation — evident from bruising and a hyoid fracture in her neck. She was five feet, four inches tall and weighed 112 pounds. She suffered abrasions on her arms, multiple skull fractures, and three significant lacerations — some revealing bone. Repeated strikes caused the injuries to her head. Criminologists found Estrada’s DNA under Avila’s fingernail, and both of their DNA was found on the ligature binding her hands. At the time of her death, she had “extremely high” levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine in her body. In October 2017, sheriffs searched Estrada’s home. They found a blood- stained six-inch…