A charred body, tacos and ICE: L.A. food stand owner, employees accused in murder plot
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Set us as preferred Mariana Yepez climbed the ranks of the Los Angeles street food scene before building her own taco empire.A native of Sonora, Mexico, Yepez and her husband toiled at various food trucks and restaurants until 2018, when they launched a series of stands named after their daughter: Ricos Tacos Naomi.Serving up heaps of fatty cabeza and sizzling al pastor, it grew to nearly a dozen locations spanning from Long Beach to L.A.to the Antelope Valley, drawing praise from prominent food critics.But now, Yepez sits in jail — accused of plotting to kill one of her employees.Yepez, 43, and aworkers at Ricos Tacos Naomi are charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Soledad Lopez, who was last seen alive around 2 p.m.
on Sept.7.
A second employee faces murder charges.Video surveillance showed the 47-year-old Lopez leaving work at one of the taco stands with her coworker, Sandra Romo Diaz.The pair then went to a warehouse related to the business, according to a transcript of a November court hearing.Lopez never emerged from the building.
Prosecutors say Diaz was seen leaving and returning to the warehouse with two gas canisters.Diaz, according to prosecutors, then left driving Lopez’s vehicle.
Two days later, Los Angeles police found Lopez’s charred body inside the car, according to a medical examiner’s report.Diaz, 52, suffered burns to her arm and stomach while trying to incinerate the car and was soon charged with Lopez’s murder, according to a court transcript and a criminal complaint.The grisly killing, authorities now say, was set in motion after Diaz, Lopez and Yepez were involved in a car crash and got into a dispute over money they received from a lawsuit.Authorities have not spelled out Yepez’s alleged role in the plot, but the intervention of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement...