A 34-year-old man, Antonio Padilla, is accused of killing 60-year-old homeless woman Gina Lockhart in Huntington Beach, California. Prosecutors allege that Padilla killed Lockhart in a shed next to his family's mobile home, decapitated her, hog-tied her body, and buried her in the backyard. The case hinges on the discovery of Lockhart's body weeks later after a lingering strong odor and Padilla's strange behavior prompted his family to call 911.
A 34-year-old man is accused of killing a 60-year-old homeless woman in Huntington Beach, California. According to prosecutors, Antonio Padilla killed Gina Lockhart in a shed next to his family's mobile home and then decapitated her, hog-tied her body, and buried her in the backyard. Weeks later, the body was discovered after a lingering strong odor and allegedly strange behavior by Padilla prompted his family to call 911.
The combination of Lockhart being decapitated after her death and the body being buried for several weeks made it difficult for an autopsy to determine an exact cause of death, but the pathologist did not rule out the possibility that Lockhart had been suffocated or strangled. The prosecutor did not outline a potential motive for the death and acknowledged that there was no evidence of a previous connection between Lockhart and Padilla. The defense attorney, however, pointed out that the autopsy was inconclusive regarding the cause of death and suggested that Lockhart, who frequently frequented the area around Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue, was an alcoholic in poor health. He noted that she had made trips to the emergency room shortly before her death for seizures and alcohol poisoning. The last person who reported seeing Lockhart alive was a food-truck worker, who testified to witnessing Lockhart on the ground moaning and holding her stomach on the afternoon of June 30, 2022. Padilla lived in the backyard shed in a nearby trailer park, while his parents and sister lived in an adjacent mobile home. A day or two after the Fourth of July, Padilla's family members began smelling a strong, noxious odor outside the home. On July 10, Padilla's sister woke up and saw her brother digging what appeared to be a deep hole in their backyard and filling it with concrete and dirt. Padilla's mother saw him with what appeared to be bloody and maggot-infested blankets. The mother called 911, and an officer told her it was probably a dead animal and suggested she clean the area. While using bleach in the shed, the mother found bloody clothes and blankets, a patch of hair attached to part of a scalp and dirty shoes with no shoe laces. On July 16, the mother called police again, telling them what had been found in the shed and described seeing Padilla digging. Police unearthed Lockhart’s body. Her hands and legs had been bound behind her with shoe lace and her head was found underneath her body. Padilla’s sister later told police that she had recalled sometime in late June when she hear what sounded like an older woman screaming for help. In March of last year, while awaiting trial, Padilla displayed photos of Lockhart’s head and her body on the door of his cell, where they were visible to other inmates and to guards. Kim raised doubts as to the evidence tying Padilla to Lockhart’s death. The defense attorney told jurors that Padilla’s sister initially denied to police that she had heard anyone scream. It wasn’t until two years later, Kim said, that the sister recalled hearing the screams, and appeared to temper that by telling investigators that it may have been a dream or a nightmare. The defense attorney also appeared to raise suspicion of Padilla’s father. The shed was the father’s “man cave,” Kim said, and Padilla only used it sporadically. And the defense attorney added that the father had planted tomato plants on top of the area where Lockhart’s body was found
MURDER DECAPITATION HOMELESS WOMAN BACKYARD BURIAL HUNTINGTON BEACH CALIFORNIA
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