Man charged with murder in toddler’s LA garment factory stabbing



LOS ANGELES — A man accused of fatally stabbing the 3-year-old daughter of two of his co-workers at a downtown Los Angeles garment factory was charged today with murder, along with the attempted murder of a woman at another factory eight months ago.

Ricardo Augusto Utuy, 34, is scheduled to be arraigned today in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom in connection with the girl’s killing on Monday, and the non-fatal stabbing at another downtown Los Angeles factory on March 10.

Utuy allegedly attacked Ruby Vasquez of Los Angeles after her parents brought her to work around 5:15 p.m. Monday at a factory in the 800 block of McGarry Street, near Eighth and Alameda streets.

The girl’s mother saw her daughter, who had gone to give her father a cookie, running toward her with Utuy close behind, according to prosecutors.

Utuy allegedly stabbed the girl multiple times with a knife. She was driven from the scene in a private vehicle, which was met by an ambulance that took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“We still don’t know the motive,” Los Angeles police Detective Moses Castillo said Wednesday, calling the attack “very bizarre.”

Utuy, a Guatemalan national, later surrendered at the LAPD’s Rampart Station and was booked early Tuesday on suspicion of murder.

“After seeing Utuy’s photograph (in news reports), an additional victim came forward and provided a statement to detectives linking him to (an) unrelated crime,” according to a statement released by the LAPD.

“The extensive investigations into both crimes have led detectives to believe that there may be an additional victim; a male (adult) by the name of Alex,” who lives or lived in the Los Angeles area, Castillo said.

“Detectives are asking for the public’s assistance and ask that if anyone recognizes Utuy to please come forward,” he said.

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