19 November 2023 , 06:55
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Police say a suspect in the murder of a 27-year-old restaurant used a fire extinguisher to beat her to death - before placing a sandbag over her face.
Dino Rojas-Moreno, 26, was charged after the body of Tatum Goodwin was found just metres from her workplace in Laguna Beach, California. She had been brutally beaten to death.
Police say Rojas-Moreno was charged with murder, kidnap and the use of a deadly weapon. Authorities said the weapon was a fire extinguisher, according to a criminal complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court in Florida. Goodwin was found by a construction worker near the restaurants he worked at. It is not clear if and how the victim and suspect knew each other.
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Coworkers said Tatum “was a very hard working young lady and always kept a smile on her face.” (KTLA)Prosecutors say the victim was approached by him in the car park near where she was found in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Both Rojas-Moreno and Goodwin worked in the same area. After the former was taken into custody "detectives determined this was an isolated incident and there is no further threat to the community," police said in a statement.
The suspect worked about .5 miles from Tatum (KLTV)The district attorney's office said it was unable to speculate on a potential motive. Investigations into the case are still ongoing. Goodwin's family said they didn't know anything about Rojas-Moreno. According to the prosecution, a sandbag had been placed over her head when her body was discovered. Investigators believe the killer dragged the victim through the parking lot and down to an unfinished movie theater, where prosecutors claimed he beat her to death with the fire extinguisher.
In a GoFundMe appeal, Marcos Salim Heredi, who worked with Goodwin at Carmelita's Restaurants for four years, said the woman “was a very hard-working young lady and always kept a smile on her face.”
“We are still in disbelief and we don't want her to go unforgotten,” he wrote. “We are attempting to raise capital for her memorial services and also help with creating a memorial in the city, so everyone in town never forgets about our sweet friend Tatum.”
"We are going to do our best to make sure we help the city in any way to help the police with their work and investigations. We truly need your help to give Tatum the memorial she very much deserves."
The Orange County Register claims that the offender was employed at the Royal Hawaiian Fire Grill, which is located in Laguna Beach less than 0.5 miles from Carmelita's Restaurants. According to jail records, Aliso Viejo, California resident Rojas-Moreno is being held on a $1 million(£802,761) bond. Whether he has hired legal counsel wasn't immediately clear.