First arrest in brutal killing of 27-year-old Karla Terron made in San Fernando
More than a year after she was found dead, the first arrest in the brutal killing of 27-year-old Karla Terron was made Wednesday morning in the city of San Fernando, authorities said.
Deputies arrested Juan Figueroa, 30, as a person believed to have been involved in the homicide, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. They served a search warrant at a home in the 1500 block of Knox Street and took him into custody shortly after 5 a.m. before booking him into the San Fernando Police Station.
Investigators said they are working on making more arrests in Terron's death.
The arrest comes a year and eight months after Terron's body was found on the side of a freeway in Bakersfield. On Dec. 17, 2022, her body was discovered engulfed in flames on southbound State Route 99, near the off-ramp for Hosking Avenue.
In early July, homicide detectives pleaded for the public's help in solving the killing.
"We hope people will have the courage to come forward and help investigators identify the information they are looking for," LA County Sheriff's Lt. Michael Modica said at the time.
As the mother of two young children, ages 10 and 8, Terron's family has been devastated by her death, Modica said.
"They lost a loved one, a family member, a mother," he said. "It's been very hard on them. It's been very hard on them to speak with investigators about the case."
The medical examiner determined Terron's cause of death was multiple stab wounds, authorities said.
The investigation went on for several months, and more than a year later in July, Modica said detectives had learned more about her whereabouts the night before she was found.
Terron is believed to have been at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in San Fernando, which is near a restaurant where she worked as a waitress, authorities said.
Investigators believe she was then taken to a home in San Fernando where she was killed. Then, authorities said, she was driven inside a white 2021 Honda CR-V to Bakersfield, about 110 miles away.
The LA County Sheriff's Department has held two news conferences, months apart, issuing pleas for the public's help solving the case.
As the investigation remains ongoing, and more arrests are expected, anyone with information is urged to contact the department's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
The case is being presented to the LA County District Attorney's Office for consideration of charges against Figueroa.
