LAFD Captain Sentenced to 15 Years to Life in Prison for Murder

A veteran Los Angeles Fire Department captain convicted of the second-degree murder of a San Gabriel woman in 2006 was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito sentenced David Del Toro, 55, for the August 16, 2006 killing of Jennifer Flores, 42, whose partially nude and mangled body was found on Loleta Avenue, two blocks from Del Toro’s home on Vincent Avenue in Eagle Rock.

LAPD detectives followed a trail of blood from Loleta Avenue to Del Toro’s home, where they discovered a virtual mountain of other murder-related evidence, including stains of the victim’s blood in a pickup truck that belonged to the fire captain.

Del Toro, a 23-year veteran of the Fire department and graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, arguing that he suffered from an alcohol-induced blackout that prevented him from remembering exactly what happened on the night Flores was killed.

In a March 17, 2011 verdict, a 12-member jury panel chose not to convict Del Toro of either manslaughter, a lesser charge, or first-degree murder, a more serious charge. Del Toro faced 15 years to life.

Because he has been in jail since a Grand Jury indicted him in November 2006—a little more than five years—that period will be deducted from his sentence.

Ito denied Del Toro any probation.