Prosecutors Filing Charges Against L.B. Man in MoVal Murder of Norma Lopez

Prosecutors were filing one count of murder "with a special circumstance allegation of kidnapping" against a Long Beach man in the murder of 17-year-old Norma Lopez in Moreno Valley, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon.

Jesse Perez Torres, 35, a former resident of Moreno Valley, is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Dept. 41 at the Riverside Hall of Justice, said John Hall, a spokesman for the District Atorney's Office.

Torres was arrested Thursday Oct. 20 after being pulled over by police near his apartment in Long Beach and booked later that day in Riverside, Hall said.

He was released from custody briefly at the end of court hours Monday in Riverside, and re-arrested on the same charges of murder and kidnapping to commit sexual assault, Riverside County sheriff's officials said.

A 48-hour deadline to file formal charges against Torres passed at the end of court hours Monday.

The of Torres "was necessary so the DA’s Office could complete a review of the case prior to making a final filing decision," Hall said in a statement.

Lopez was walking from summer classes at Valley View High School on July 15, 2010, when she was abducted. Her body was found in a field in east Moreno Valley five days later.

The rocked the Moreno Valley community and made national headlines.

At the time of Lopez' disappearance and death, "Torres lived in a home on a Moreno Valley street which the victim walked past the morning she was abducted," Hall said.

"Torres owned an SUV at the time which matched the description of a vehicle witnesses described seeing in the area of the abduction. Torres moved from Moreno Valley to Long Beach in about August 2010," Hall said.

Torres' Long Beach address was not disclosed.

Prosecutors and law enforcement were continuing to investigate the case, Hall said.