True Crime with Kimbyr - College Dream Turns Deadly: The Heartbreaking Murder of Andrea DelVesco: Part 3

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

The hunt for Andrea DelVesco’s killer comes to a gripping end in Part 3 of True Crime with Kimbyr. As the case heads to court, the shocking identity of her murderer is revealed—someone no one ever expected. But even with a conviction, haunting questions remain: could Andrea have been saved? Did the justice system deliver real closure? Kimbyrleigha walks us through the trial, the emotional testimonies, and the lasting impact on Andrea’s loved ones. This final chapter is both heartbreaking and powerful—one you won’t want to miss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now, Alberto apologize. He says, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I took them. He says, I am guilty of that. He tells the detectives that there was a party one night and there was some engineering students. And in his words, they were being dicks. So he decided to take the speakers, take a laptop, a bottle of alcohol, but he was really drunk.

He says it so casually, just like, you know, I was drunk, I took a few things. He put it so lightly like it wasn't even a big deal. Well, all of this seems to add. up to what the residents of that red Robling Avenue apartment said they were missing. So the investigators continue listening while Alberto tells them that they left that spot around 5 or 5.30 in the morning. And yes, parties do go on that long. Then he said, they went back to Erick's, but that some guy by a dumpster pulled a gun on them and demanded that Alberto give him whatever he had and he had those speakers. But he didn't want to give him the speakers. So he told detectives

that this guy ends up trying to shoot him, but they ran and he missed. They asked this guy, well, what did he look like? What was he wearing? And Alberta says, I think he was wearing jeans and a tank top. Well, the detectives don't know what to think. They know hundreds of people come to that area to party just because Alberta was there and stole some things didn't mean that he was also the person that went into Andrea's apartment and killed her. They also know that what Alberto described is what the man with the gun was wearing, matches the description of the man Sarah saw running from Andrew's room. He also had a tank top and jeans on.

But this is California. That's pretty much the frat-boy uniform of the summer. However, what they do know for sure is that Alberto is placing himself right across the street around the same time that Sarah said she saw someone outside their apartment complex and not too long before the murder. Finally, they began to question him about whether he was with any girls that night or any night while he was visiting. And Alberto says, yeah, he was quick to say, well, yeah, of course.

And he gives them two names. Zana Choa, a UCLA student and her roommate, Gabby. He said he just met the girls that weekend and that they were Eric's friends. They hung out all weekend and partied together. Well, the detectives were continuing to press him. They're asking, are you sure that those were the only girls you were with, that there were no other girls that you remember? hanging out with. And after pressing him for a while and telling him, come on, you have a conscience.

Tell us what happened, Alberto. He was like, okay, okay, okay, fine. Wow, they feel like they're really going to get the truth that they finally broke him. He really came off like, oh, I really don't want to tell you this. So he starts over. He said that him and Eric were at that party, and it was him that decided to steal the speakers. But he says, well, this a-hole referring to his friend Eric goes across the street with a girl he met at the party. Detective stop him there. They're like, what did the girl look like? Alberto thinks for a second.

He says, well, she was a white girl. She was skinny. She had blonde hair. And they said, well, do you know her name? And he's thinking for a second. And he says, hmm. And then he says, I want to call her Andy? And he kind of posed it like a question.

Like he wasn't 100% sure. Wow. Detectives must know they're on to something because he's literally said the name of their victim. So they asked him, if he remembers what she was wearing, Alberto responded by saying, quote, a little shirt, high top socks, a little bra, and some underwear. That's about it. End quote. And I'm sitting here thinking, so she wasn't wearing pants or a skirt.

That's when they tell him that something actually happened to that girl. And it's important that he's honest from hearing. on out. And in that moment, he has this physical reaction. He just puts his hand on his head and he says, the F word. He says, fuck. And then he just blurts out, it's Eric. It's Eric. They were shocked. Because now they have yet another name, another person that's being implicated. Eric Marquez. Alberto explains that his friend Eric went over there and in his words, quote, he tried to have sex or he's having sex or whatever he's doing and he comes back running to me and he's like, I just effed up, we gotta go, bro, we gotta eff and leave.

I just hit the shit out of this girl. I beat the shit out of this girl." End quote. Alberto was saying that while he's busy across the street taking speakers in a laptop, his friend Eric, his good friend, was over there having sex with a girl that he thinks is named Andy. And then after Alberto had put the speakers in his car, he saw Eric come running out of those apartments across the street, and he tells them that he had plastic bags around his hands. He says, that's how he knew that Eric did something that wasn't right. And then he said that Eric

took the plastic bags off. He threw them in a dumpster, and then they left. So now they asked him what Eric was wearing. And Alberto says, jeans in a tank top. So here, Alberto is exposing his friend from high school, just like that. But we're talking about murder. They haven't told him that yet, But eventually they make it clear that Andrea wasn't just beaten or hit. She was dead. Well, that's when Alberto was like, I know it was Eric. He said later he found out 100% that Eric was the one that committed this murder because he confronted him about it, that he texted him after he found out that a girl had been killed.

And his friend admitted that he killed the blonde girl from the other night. That's also when Eric told Alberto that he had sex. with that girl. This is a lot. It's exactly what the detectives have been waiting for. Everything is coming together. So they continue. They ask Alberto if he's ever seen a red blanket and he says yes. Eric did have a red blanket. It was around his neck when he got in the car. But then at some point Eric took it off and then he had Alberto carry it or he put it around Alberto's neck or he put it in Alberta's car and then when they were getting out of the car at Eric's apartment he was cold. So Alberto grabbed it and

wrapped it around his own neck. Well, they've got it all now. They've got the red blanket, the tank topped the jeans, a confession by Alberto's best friend from high school. That not only did he have sex with Andy that night, but he's responsible for her murder. At this point, it's been five days since Andrea was found dead. Alberto has now agreed to drive to Los Angeles with the detectives and showed them where Eric lives, where he was staying that weekend, and where they can find his friend. Alberta directs them to this building, 1115 Strathmore Drive in Westwood, right near the UCLA campus. This building is only a five-minute walk to Andreas

and to the apartment where the speakers were stolen. They run a background check on Eric. He's also 22 years old, and he's a fifth year pre-med student at UCLA. He doesn't have a criminal background either. Later that same day, they confront Eric Marquez at his apartment. They ask him if he has any information about what happened to Andrea Delvesco, and they asked him what he did that weekend with his friend, Alberta.

Specifically the night of September 20th into the early morning hours of the 21st, and Eric says that him and Alberto, they were partying. They were out there all night on Roebling Avenue, and they came back to his apartment and fell asleep around 3 o'clock in the morning until 8 o'clock. He doesn't know what happened, but he knows that they were not involved with the murder,

and they weren't even out there at the time at the murder. They were asleep. That's all he knows. And that he was very heavily intoxicated that night. That they had basically been drinking all day and all night and he has no idea about any of those details or who they were with or what they did. So now the detectives have two different stories, and Eric is not forthcoming. It seems like Eric is covering something up by saying he just doesn't remember anything. And they've got to get to the bottom of it. Either one of these men could be lying. But now detectives know there's one thing that doesn't lie. Surveillance video. So they gain access to security camera footage from Eric's apartment building and sure enough they find Eric and

Alberto on the video. Throughout the elevators to Eric's building, this is around 240 in the morning. Eric is on the left holding a drink in his hand wearing dark jeans and a t-shirt. Alberto is the one on the right. He's kind of off frame right here. He's wearing a dark colored baseball cap, a tank top. and jeans. So already we have inconsistent information. Alberta was the one wearing a tank top, jeans, and a ball cap. The same outfit Sarah described this stranger wearing when she was unlocking her door at 5.35 a.m. She said the same person jumped over Andrea's balcony. Detectives keep playing the video. They're trying to get a timeline of where Eric and Alberta were at certain times. And sure enough, once again, they're spotted around 4.34 a.m. going back downstairs.

again. This time it looks like they're doing shots or jello shots, something. You can see clearly Alberto's arm has a tattoo on it. He matches the description of the person Sarah saw, but many people wear this type of outfit. So they want to keep playing the video for more evidence. You can see Eric is still wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Now this shot right here, you can really see Alberto's tank top and it's a Nike tank top. Although we can't see the color because this video is in black and white. We know that the suspect was described wearing a black and white Nike tank top. The time is also important.

Remember Eric said that they were both asleep in his apartment from 3 to 8 a.m.? No, they weren't. They were going downstairs to drink. This is very valuable information, but detectives want more, so they keep playing the video. Finally, the camera footage shows Alberto coming off the elevators to go back into Eric's apartment at 7.11 a.m. and get this. Alberta was seen here wearing a blanket. We can't see the color, but I'm going to tell you that it's a red snuggy blanket. Andrea's snuggie that she was wearing when she fell asleep on her living room couch at 3 a.m.

It is now on Alberto's shoulders. Just like Sarah said the suspect had it on, draped over like a shawl or a cape. Sarah made that 911 call about the suspect running to the street as she chased after him following that fire at 701 in the morning. They had enough time to make the two-minute drive back, park, walk up to Eric's place, and the footage showed a red car matching the description of the getaway car parked in the parking garage at 7.03 a.m. with two people getting out of the car. Eric is not seen wearing the blanket. But remember, Alberto insisted that Eric was the one wearing jeans and a tank top bro.

Why are you going to tell detectives that your friend was wearing the outfit that you were actually wearing if you weren't the one that committed the crime. He also said that some random guy with a gun was wearing a tank top in June. So it's adding up, isn't it? Or is it? To detectives, they believe they've got their man, Albert Medina. But wait. They want to keep going. They want to see when Alberto actually leaves Erics.

At 7.30 in the morning, Alberta was seen coming out of Eric's apartment with a trash bag, no shirt, basketball shorts, and he still has this black baseball cap on. I wonder what's in the trash bag. If I had to guess, it's probably Alberto's bloody clothing, right? Kind of weird place to put your clothes

because I'm sure he brought a bag to spend the weekend with his best friend. And that friend is, again, just two steps behind him, right by his side. He knows Alberto's carrying a trash bag, that he got all washed up in his apartment, that he's changed clothes. So what else does he know? That's what the detective?

detectives want to find out. So they once again confront Eric. Now with the footage. They play it for him. They show him screenshots. They show him the pictures. The ones of him. And one more time, they said, what happened? Again, he maintained his original story that he didn't know. He was drinking heavily, and it's all a blur. He says he doesn't remember anything, not even getting on the elevators, nothing. Well, they know that that can't be 100% true because someone was driving that red vehicle. It was either Eric waiting in the driver's seat outside for Alberta to get back or waiting in the passenger seat for his buddy to return. From what they heard Alberto say that his friend said, remember, he said he came running back to the car saying, I effed up, we got to go. Most likely, that's what Alberto said to Eric as Eric drove the getaway car.

But they can't prove that Eric knew what Alberto did when he was inside Andrea's apartment. It seems as though both of them had the intent to burglarize the apartment where the students had their laptop and their speaker stolen. And since that was the theme of the night, drinking and stealing, detectives surmise that Eric probably assumed Alberto was just hitting up another house to steal things. This is all very circumstantial. They need more evidence, but they have enough probable cause to get a search warrant for both residences, Erics and Alberto's. They also arrest both of them, and they're holding them until further investigation can be completed. That day, when booking both men in jail, they have pictures of their bodies taken. It turns out, Eric has no scratches on him, known on his face, on his hands, and nothing.

He's clean. But it was a different story when they examined Alberto. He has several small nicks and scratches on his face that I'm showing you right here, as well as on his arms. As a matter of fact, there are a number of small cuts on his left. as you can see here, as well as a mark on the top of his head. It looks like he was in some kind of fight. It's all more evidence that Alberta was the one who killed Andrea. But when questioned about it, he said he got into a fight with someone.

He doesn't remember it. He was drunk. Sunday, September 27, detectives are conducting a search of Eric's apartment. Kristen Roco, an LAPD criminalist, found suspected blood in a number of locations. and they were collected for analysis. Now for Alberto's Fresno home that he shared with his roommates, remember Joseph and Joseph? First, they locate the red Nissan Centra, and they have it towed to the crime lab for testing.

It's got the three letters for Lambda Chi Alpha, and it belongs to Alberta. When they contact the Fresno chapter of the fraternity, they're told that Alberta Medina had been suspended for violating the standard. the standards of conduct. When they search Alberto's room, they find a black trash bag in his closet.

Remember he was carrying that trash bag at Erics? You'd think he would have thrown it away, but thankfully he didn't. When they pick it up, they see a bloody knife underneath it. Wow. And this is the knife right here, the way it looked when it was found. When they open up that trash bag,

the first thing they find is a big, red snugger. red, snuggy blanket, a black and white Nike tank top that has what looks like bloodstains on it and a pair of women's underwear. I wonder where you got those. Disgusting. There was also a gray towel inside, black shorts, and two pairs of men's underwear, a belt, one sock, and a cell phone. There was also a smaller white trash bag found in the closet, and it also had suspected blood on it. All of these items were sent to the crime lab to be tested for DNA. And it is not looking good for Alberto Medina. I used to have a podcast called Critique, A Killer,

before I started True Crime on this channel. And I used to examine the mistakes that killers make, do not judge me, it was me and my best friend. We would just talk about how dumb criminals really are. What is it? Is it adrenaline? Why not just throw the evidence away? Why keep it?

Is it a memento? It's just mind-boggling. But I'm so glad they make mistakes. like this. But the biggest mistake was taking someone's life to begin with. At this point, the other Joseph that lived with Alberto came forward, Joseph Garcia, and he told investigators that when Alberto returned from Los Angeles, one of the first things he said was how crazy it was, that a girl had been murdered right near where he was staying over near UCLA. When Joseph asked him what happened, Alberto said that it looked like someone broke into her apartment and that the guy

took advantage of her, forced her into intercourse, he used the R word, and then they burned the body to get rid of the evidence. Alberto was actually glorifying the burning of the body, and he said that he was positive that the perpetrator would, quote, get away with it. And he also acted like it was really smart that the guy burned the place. Not smart that he told his friend about it. And the very next day, Monday, September 28th, Alberta's red Nissan was being examined. they found suspected blood. It was smeared on the exterior door handle of the driver's door. Suspected blood was on the inside plastic inner handle and the steering wheel.

And another black sock was found that matched the one in the trash can. It also had suspected blood on it. And it was recovered from the trunk of the car as well. This was more than enough evidence to charge these men for the crime. Both were arrested on September 28 and held without bond for Andrea Delvesco's murder. Prosecutors charged both men with one count of murder and two counts of burglary. Alberto was also charged with arson. Andy was facing the death penalty. A hearing was set for the

very next day. Of course, both Alberto and Eric pleaded not guilty to the charges at the hearing. About 20 of Eric's friends and family members showed up to support him, as well as Alberto's family, including his father, Jose. His father told reporters that his son told him he didn't do it. Eric's mother, who did not speak English, but had her younger son translate for her, said that Eric came home to visit them on Saturday. That was also the day he was initially questioned by police, and they went to see a movie, and Eric acted happy, like nothing was wrong at all. She also let the media know that her son was a hardworking student who wanted to become a doctor. She said, quote, he's a perfect son, a perfect person, a perfect boy, end quote. I beg to differ.

But she went on to tell reporters that she didn't believe her son was guilty and that he never mentioned anything about a girl or a fire. His younger brother said that his mom can't comprehend or understand why he was picked. He's a good kid, picked. I don't think he was picked. I know it's hard for parents in these situations. They want to be supportive. I understand that. But it was almost implied that the police were pegging this crime on Eric, that he didn't willingly participate as Alberto's friend. But this was before the trial, so they are still innocent until proven guilty. By the next day, articles were popping up, including this one, saying that two men were being held in the death of a UCLA student. They were also asking the public

for information in regard to the night of the 20th into the 21st, and someone comes forward. His name is Julio. He was a cook at UCLA. And at around 5.30 in the morning on the 21st of September, after the parties on the street were wrapping up, Julio was out there collecting recyclable cans. He was on Roebling Avenue. He saw a man get out of the driver's seat of a small red car, and it was parked across the street from Andrea's apartment building. The man had a large tattoo on his right arm, and he was acting belligerent, and he came up and got in Julio's face and said, man, you know how to fight? Something to that effect. And Julio was just staying there.

Like, what are you talking about? Like, leave me alone. Julio went on to explain that there was another man seated in the front passenger seat of the red car and both of them looked drunk. They were just laughing and carrying on together. And then the guy who got out of the car, the one that was asking him if he knew how to fight, He explained to Julio that he needed help getting into an apartment where a girl lived in case there was a guy inside there. Julio noted that this guy seemed drugged, he was just like heavily intoxicated, and Julio just said no. Then this man walked up toward Andrea's apartment building and he went up to the front stairs.

That's when Julio left to go to work. Wow. If that's not telling, I don't know what as, it was only five, minutes later when Sarah came home and saw a man in a black baseball cap, a tank top, and jeans at the bottom of the stairwell. This was it. Now everyone had to wait for trial. Meanwhile, the evidence is being tested, and I want to tell you the results, but I also want to mention some things that were uncovered between the arrests and the trial. First, the evidence. You could have probably guessed the DNA profile from the blood stains that were on the knife and the white trash bag from inside the closet both matched Andrea's DNA profile. The major DNA profile from a blood stain on the collar of the tank top also matched Andrea.

There was a partial DNA profile from the sample taken from the woman's underwear that was consistent with Andrea's DNA as well. Wow. Plus the blood on that sock that was found in the trunk that match Andrea's DNA. And the blood on the car door handle was a partial match. match. The blood at Eric's was a match. Andrea's family was overwhelmed with grief, but they were glad that Alberto and Eric had been arrested. However, not too long afterward, Arthur and Leslie, they were made aware that Sarah made those 911 calls, two of them, and the fact that four police officers were on scene after the screams were heard coming from their daughter's apartment. This changed everything. They started to

wonder if their daughter would still be alive if these officers had actually investigated. They didn't even knock on the doors. When Andrea's dad tried to ask the LAPD about the details of that initial call and their response, he said his questions were, quote, very poorly received. He said he was, quote, rebuffed vigorously. And Leslie added that they made him feel uncomfortable for even asking these questions, but they were shocked by the fact that four officers were right there when their daughter was most likely being killed, and they didn't even knock on the door to make sure that nothing was going on.

The call was made at 618. The police were there in minutes at 623. Leslie will never know if her daughter was still alive when they got there and that something could have been done to stop her killer. But that's a lot to think about. But even if she was already deceased, Leslie made another good point. If they had gotten there before the fire was started, at the very least, an additional violence. wouldn't have been carried out on her body. They would have been able to see her the way she would have looked before she was completely burned.

And I understand this. It's so sad. She went on to say she could have held her daughter one last time. Had those officers prevented the killer from burning the building if they could have intervened faster, if they had not just left, because they were only there for six minutes.

And by 7 a.m., the place was on fire. Both Leslie and Arthur were grateful for all the hard work that the LAPD had done to capture the people that they believed did this, but they truly felt like they made a mistake here and they were hoping that they would carry out an investigation. An obituary went out in the Austin American Statement newspaper on October 11th with all the wonderful things that Andrea's family wanted her to be remembered for, as well as information about her a celebration of life that was scheduled for October 17th at her alma mater, St. Andrew's Episcopal. Leslie said that Andrea was a beautiful soul.

She was one of the most loving, giving people that she knew. She always put the needs of others before hers. And she also said she kept getting letters and notes from people from UCLA. And she said, some we knew and some we never knew how she touched their lives. And it was just amazing. Leslie said that they knew how wonderful Andrea was and how lucky they were to have her, but to have all these people telling them how she impacted their lives in such a positive and loving way, it really helped them when they were grieving.

They were also so thankful that they had 21 years with her, and they just wanted everyone to remember her with love. And they hoped that she was at peace, and they will love her forever. Her little sister Alexis was quoted saying, quote, I would like to steal all of her clothes because I just wanted to be her. I feel so lucky to have known her and that she was my sister. That's so cool to me, end quote. Her father was still having a hard time speaking about what happened to Andrea.

And as the weeks turned into months, they were still waiting. The trial, like many others, just kept getting pushed by the defense so they could examine new evidence like phone records, for example. especially Eric's attorneys. And one thing I did realize was that a witness placed Alberta in the driver's seat of that getaway car,

and that Andrea's blood was found on the driver's side handle of the car as well. So that meant Eric was probably not the getaway driver, but he was waiting outside. And that could make things more complicated for prosecutors, and it did. They wanted to make sure that they were charging him correctly for his participation in the crimes.

Both the burglary of the U.S. DLA students across the street and his part in Andrea's murder if he had any part of it at all. That was being re-evaluated. And by the fall of 2016, a judge recommended that Eric be tried for aiding and abetting the murder and Alberta be tried for murder committed during a felony, robbery, and arson. Prosecutors also charge both men with burglary and Alberto with arson plus a new charge, cruelty to animals, because poor Shay Panda suffered and died as a result of that fire. The death penalty was still on the table in regard to Alberta.

By October 2017, Eric's attorneys were looking into a plea deal for their client. They wanted at the very least for these two defendants to be tried separately. The prosecutor said that he would consider negotiating a plea for Eric, but it was not on the table for Alberta. Eventually, a deal was made and the two trials were separated. Right after this, around December 2017, Eric actually went ahead and pled guilty to aiding and abetting and the burglary to Andrea's, which was first degree of residential burglary

and accessory after the fact so that he would avoid trial altogether. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. What are your thoughts on this? Let me know. The prosecutor said that after reviewing the evidence, they believed that this was the appropriate charge to put forth for Eric's part of the crime. Also, an internal investigation was launched

into the police officers who responded to that 911 call, and left Andrews without knocking. Andrea's dad was still having hard time coming to terms with everything that happened. He said, quote, countless times I've asked myself what I could have done to prevent this horrific tragedy. And I only hope that the LAPD asked themselves that same question as well. End quote. The LAPD spokesperson Josh Rubenstein, he responded to the allegations of misconduct by saying that the LAPD took swift action to hold department personnel accountable for mistakes made

in the initial stages of the investigation. He couldn't say too much, but he did say that some of the officers were no longer employed by the LAPD. And he mentioned that the LAPD will work closely with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to ensure that those responsible for Andrea's murder are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Well, it ended up, an internal investigation

was done in two veteran officers, Sudath, the 21-year-old veteran, and Williams, who worked there for seven years, were both found guilty at separate boards of rights hearings. Both of the boards recommended termination. The fact that they were fired never even made headlines, and neither officer chose to speak to the media. However, their attorney, Robert Rico did, and he said, quote, the outcome of the case was undeniably tragic,

but the officers were not to blame. And one reason that he wanted to point out, was even though Sarah thought the screams were coming from the unit below her, she also mentioned an echo effect in the complex's courtyard that made pinpointing the source of the sound difficult. That was a quote. He also referred to the information that Sarah provided as being vague. This attorney used to be a police officer. So in his expert opinion, with the facts that were known to him, the officers executed proper due diligence in conducting the exterior. search and doing so yielded no evidence of a crime in the officer's mind.

There was no suspect, there was no victim. He said that the officers spoke amongst themselves and they discussed knocking on the complex doors, but the most senior officer, Sudath, made the command decision not to because there just wasn't enough information to start waking up residents that early in the morning. Wow. Would it have been that inconvenient? I bet if you ask those residents now, they would much rather have been woken up than have their friend murdered. Attorney Rico went on to say that, quote, the officer's failure to knock on the door had no bearing on Andrea's chance of survival. She was dead before the officers got there, end quote. Really? Because you were there when she took her last breath, right? That just angered me.

Lastly, Rico said that Officer Sidduth and Williams received overly harsh punishments not because of what they failed to do, but because of the subsequent tragedy they could not have anticipated. He said, we don't fire people for not knocking on doors. So the two rookie officers, they were not fired. And Leslie and Arthur's response to all of this was that they were grateful for the aspects of the LAPD's work. But Leslie said that they know they made a mistake. And no one from the police department ever apologize for that. Would that have been so hard either? Just to say sorry, but I guess it implies guilt.

The trial for Alberto Medina began on May 15, 2018, nearly three years after Andrea's murder. Her entire family was there. Prosecutor Avila told the court, Alberto was standing trial for five separate charges, one count of murder, one count of arson, two counts of burglary, and one count of cruelty to animals.

In his opening statement, he told the jurors that Andrea's life was taken away from her by Alberta and that he stabbed her multiple times to silence her so she couldn't call out for help. And that Shea Panda was also silenced and was found by firefighters at the foot of her bed. The first day of trial, the jury heard from Sarah Murr, the student that made those 911 calls, and that was an eyewitness. They played those calls for the jury. They also heard from Connor Kirk, who was also a person who was also a student at the time, and he too saw Alberto's red car with that fraternity sticker fleeing

from the scene when the fire was coming out of Andrew's apartment. Mahir, the owner of the Sonos speakers told the jury about realizing that they were gone, and now him and his roommates had their window in their apartment open because it wouldn't close properly. This could have been how Alberto got inside. His laptop was also retrieved from a shelf in Alberto's closet, and he was able to identify it at trial because of the stickers he knew he put on it. Several other witnesses were called, including the first responders, firefighters, and the medical director of VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital in regard to little Shea Panda, and Leslie Delvesco, Andrea's mom. The second day, they heard from Alberto's roommates,

including Joseph Garcia, who told the jury how Alberto told him about the girl that had been murdered and said that, quote, no one would be able to catch the murderer because the individual torch the apartment and left her body unrecognizable." He said that Alberto also told him they're probably not even going to be able to ID the body because it was burned so bad. They also heard from Julio Centillion, who was being harassed by Alberto. Remember, outside of Andrew's apartment?

He was putting his hands in fists and asking him in Spanish if he knew how to fight because he may need some help getting inside this girl's apartment in case there was a guy inside. He gestured to Andrea's place. when he said this. Julio said he left because he was scared of Alberta, and he saw him walk towards Andrea's apartment

and sit on those stairs out front. That day of the trial closed out by hearing from Officer Montague, one of the rookie cops, and he talked about flashing his flashlight into those apartments and not seeing anyone inside or any signs of force entry. He was also the officer that came back after they were called out to the fire,

and he's the one that told him. said she told Sarah that they had not knocked on the doors. Abigail Strout was one of Andrea's roommates, and she testified that the knife found in Alberta's closet matched a knife set in their apartment. And the crime scene technicians testified that the blood matched Andrea's DNA. Alberto declined to testify on his own behalf,

which is probably a good idea, and the prosecution rested its case. Then the defense called their only witness. Remember when Alberto said that he was with two women that weekend, Zane and her roommate Gabby. Well, the defense called Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Zane Achoa, a former UCLA Navy ROTC cadet, an active service member. She was their only defense witness.

She said she spent the weekend with Gabby, Alberto, and Eric. She met Alberto through Eric at a friend's birthday party on Friday night. She said that her and her roommate met him again on Sunday to drink in Eric's apartment on Stratthmore Drive. She said that they purchased some tequila and cranberry juice at Ralph's earlier that evening, and they spent about two hours playing drinking games, and that they were, quote, pretty drunk, and Alberta was, quote, plastered. Then four of them left the apartment after Eric broke a bong and ran outside. The guys left them to clean up the broken glass. And I found out that this was a screen grab right here

from the security footage of Eric and Alberto near the elevators around. this time. Then the four of them left were a place called Tommy's Taco on Gaylee Avenue, which is right here, a seven-minute walk. But then Alberto called one of Zane's friends a racial slur. So they left. They called an Uber and all four of them got inside and Zane said that she made it clear to the Uber driver that she wanted the driver to drop off Alberto and Eric first and then take her and Gabby back home. At this point she said that Alberta was really drunk and telling that he wanted to go to her apartment. It was 153 a.m. when the Uber driver dropped Eric and Alberto off at Eric's, and then the two girls continued to their apartment.

Uber receipts were shown to the jury confirming the times and the destinations. When cross-examined, Zane said that she thought Alberto had little consideration for others, she said, quote, he was just one of those loud guys. People like that feel like they can do whatever." quote, wow. The fact that right before Andrew was killed, this man was yelling that he wanted to go to Zane's apartment with her is very telling to me, pent up sexual aggression mixed with heavy intoxication and possibly drugs. The defense rested. Now something interesting came out during trial. The prosecution had a theory of how the events took place. That when Julio saw Alberto get out of the car, Eric was in the passenger seat. This was around 535 when Sarah saw Alberto on those steps. We can't be sure what transpired after Sarah saw him run away. But somehow he got inside of that apartment. The girl said it was common for them to keep their doors on lock.

Plus, Andrea's French doors were broken and they didn't close fully. But there's more. Jessica testified that she and Andrea would go on walks with Shea around the neighborhood. And after Alberta was identified, she saw a picture of him. And she recognized him as someone that they encountered that weekend, one of the times that they were walking the dog on Robling Avenue, possibly that Sunday. And she remembers that Andrea had a quick exchange with him saying that she lived in the Pai Betta Fee sorority apartments. And later, they were all up on their front balcony having a party, and he saw those girls.

The prosecution believes that between 535 and the screams that Sarah heard around 6.15, when Alberto had somehow made his way inside, they know that Andrea was initially sleeping on the couch and the living room, but was found in her bedroom behind a closed door, and she never closed her door at night. Remember Samantha left around 5.50 in the morning, and she saw her roommate Andrea sleeping on that couch. But by 6.30, she was in her room behind a closed door.

The fact that Alberto had asked Julio if he could fight, definitely goes to the fact that he took that knife, that Andrea's roommates recognized and visually matched a knife block in Andrea's kitchen, most likely, as soon as he came inside so he could protect himself in case a guy was in the apartment like he told Julio, or because he knew all along what he was going to do. Either way, the intention to arm himself was there. He most likely wielded that knife to get Andrea to go to her room.

Whether he came through the front doors or the French doors, it doesn't really make a difference. But we know that the killer exited the French doors later. It's believed that Alberto forced Andrea to have sex with him while threatening her with a knife. And at some point, she began to scream, whether this was before, during, or after the forced sexual contact, we don't know for sure.

But Shea also began barking. And this was heard by Sarah at 6.15. Just 45 minutes after Alberto had been seen lurking around the apartments, the murder was most like, taking place. Andrea was being stabbed, and we know two of those wounds would have been instantly fatal. The cops got there at 623 and used flashlights to look inside the rooms, and they didn't see anyone on Andrea's bed. But the blood on the floor tells the story. She was most likely on the floor with Alberta when the police were outside. She was bleeding

out, and who knows if Little Shea was being silenced by being held or hurt? Because at that point, no barks were heard. Or maybe, since she usually doesn't bark, once Andrea stopped fighting and was dying on the floor, Little Shay stopped fighting too. No one except the killer knows what happened in the time frame between the 911 calls, but the prosecutor believed that Alberta was inside.

Whether he knew cops were there or not, he went undetected, and then he placed Andrea on her bed, took a trash can, started a fire with what was inside, and dumped it on top of Andrea to cover up the evidence that she had been stabbed. Remember Alberto's description of what Andrea was wearing when he allegedly saw her at a party before his friend took her to her apartment have sex with her? A little shirt, high top socks, a little bra, and some underwear. Right. Because she was asleep on the couch with her snuggy covering her. She was found without her underwear, which were later found at

Alberto's house. It's clear to me what happened. And by May 24th, both sides had rested. Thursday, May 24th, the jury rendered a guilty verdict. In the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge convicted Medina a first-degree murder. He was also convicted of arson, cruelty to animals, and two counts of burglary, but now, they have to wait for a sentence in hearing to find out his ultimate fate. The hearing was scheduled for September 21st, 2018, three years to the day that Andrea was found murdered. That was a very significant date to her friends and family,

who all came forward to share how much Andrea meant to them in their victim impact statements. About a dozen people spoke. Andrew was described as magic and having the ability to empathize and connect with others. Her friend Heather said, as she was crying, that today is my chance to fight back. To my kooky friend, Andy,

thank you for wearing color as you danced in this world. Many of her friends talked about the trauma that they went through. Lizzie said, I woke up early to the sound of helicopters in that moment the world I knew melted away. What if I was next? She said that till this day, she wakes up fearing for her life.

And many spoke about how, they had to hide from reporters, that they were trying to get statements from them nonstop, and it just kept bringing the pain of their friend's death up again. Another friend of Andrea's, Nicole, said that Andrea's murder brought new fears to her life like the fear of strange men and a discomfort in the world that we live in. Some of her friends said that they admitted they had regretted not taking the police inspection of the property more seriously, that they heard them and they saw them with their flashlights, But they shrugged it off, and now they wish they hadn't.

John Mannheimer, who had been friends with Andres since freshman year, recalled a day when he came to help her assemble that bed frame. And instead of helping her, as he promised, he said he laid on the floor of her apartment just ranting about what an awful day he had. He said she didn't even complain that I wasn't helping. She just listened to me. Whenever I had a bed day, she could make it all go away. It was like we were in our own bubble where nothing bad.

could happen. He said that Andy could see uniqueness in every single person. She was the sweetest person even to complete strangers. He ended with, I just miss her. She'll always have a special place in my heart. But out of all the victim impact statements, it was probably Andrea's mother, Leslie, that stood out most. She mentioned the date, September 21st. It's a constant reminder of the day that Alberto decided to make the choice to take her her wonderful, amazing daughter's life, that they used to talk for hours. She's going to miss that. She went on to say that at the very least,

could Alberto just tell them the truth about what happened and why he did it? She questioned his intention and his motivation because she believes he went out looking for blood that night, not just to steal from someone. And that was clear from the amount of stab wounds. 19? It was extreme. Leslie said that from the day she was born, she knew that Andrea was an angel on earth.

Her father said that though her life was cut short, when she was here, she affected so many people in so many positive ways, and he's just starting to understand it. Throughout the trial, Alberto was emotionless. He never showed remorse. And the judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He addressed Alberto saying, you murdered a beautiful, innocent person. You have seriously wounded an entire community, and you must never walk free again. The judge also added a symbolic number of years. I think it was 12 extra years on Alberto's life sentence because of how heinous the crime was. But Alberto's defense attorney asked the judge to remove them

because she argued that the murder was out of character for Alberto, that he didn't have a criminal record, he didn't go into Andrea's with a weapon, so it wasn't premeditated, which I totally disagree with, because premeditation can happen in the blink of an eye. He had plenty of time to decide not to kill Andrea. But his defense attorney went on to say that the murder was not sophisticated. It was the opposite of sophisticated, that he left a bunch of evidence behind, even saying that it wasn't a smart move on his part, and I have to agree with that.

Nothing about this crime was smart. It was senseless. The judge, of course, refused the defense's request and kept the additional years on his sentence. Andrea's family was relieved, that Alberto would remain behind bars where he belonged, but it doesn't bring Andrea back. Some of her friends said in honor of Andrea, they wanted to get a fur coat and have it framed so they could display it in their apartment. Her sister Alexis went on to be a hairstylist,

and she's super adorable. I'm sure Andrea would be so proud of her, especially her bright hair and her unique style. I want to end with a couple things that Leslie said. One, she spoke up when the other Idaho killings occurred and she said that she believes on-campus housing is safer than students living off-campus in unsupervised apartments. But she understands it's not possible for schools to provide on-campus housing for every

student. So instead, they should focus on teaching students how to be safer. And these institutions should spend more time informing students about the risks that exist and how to reduce them and defend themselves. But I think the most important thing that Andrea's mom said was that even though it's nice to to leave your doors open for friends to drop by, don't. Because unfortunately, there are people in this world that don't have your best interest in their hearts.

I'll end with Jessica's words about Andrea that she spoke at the vigil. She said she liked the quote, you are not truly dead unless you are forgotten. And that means so much to me. That's why I devote so much time to each of these stories. We shouldn't take anything for granted. So hold your loved ones tight. I'll see you in my next video. Bye.