A jury convicted a Montebello man of first-degree murder Friday for beating his girlfriend to death at a Baldwin Park motel and living with her body for six days before it was discovered, officials said.
Nicolas Figueroa Manos, 33, is scheduled to return to Los Angeles County Superior Court for a sentencing hearing on Aug. 27, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He’s expected to receive 25 years to life in state prison.
The body of 19-year-old Nancy Ester Mederos Gudino of Baldwin Park was discovered on June 30, 2017, inside a motel room in the 13900 block of Francisquito Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and coroner’s officials said. Officers from the Baldwin Park Police Department were called to the motel to help remove the occupants.
“Upon their arrival, officers discovered a female Hispanic adult who had sustained trauma to her upper body,” Deputy Ryan Rouzan of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau said in a written statement. “The trauma was caused by an unknown object.”
“Manos was in bed, while the victim was found on her back on the floor just outside of the bathroom,” the D.A’s office said in a written statement. “According to evidence presented at the trial, she had been dead for six days.”
An autopsy determined the victim died from “blunt force trauma and other undetermined factors,” Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner’s records show. The death was ruled a homicide.
Detectives initially detained Manos as a “person of interest” in the case, sheriff’s officials said. He was arrested on suspicion of murder three days later.