Homicide detectives say they have solved the murder of a woman whose body was found stabbed and burned on the side of a road in Bakersfield two years ago.
On Dec. 17, 2022, a passing motorist found the body of 27-year-old Karla Terron, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The woman was repeatedly stabbed and her body was burned before she was found.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, homicide investigators served an arrest warrant in the 1500 block of Knox Street in San Fernando and arrested Juan Figueroa, 30, on suspicion of murder.
Jail records show Figueroa is being held on $1 million bail and is due in court Friday. Detectives said they are working to make additional arrests in the case and the investigation is ongoing. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office to file charges against Figueroa.
Terron was last seen alive at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando on Dec. 16, 2022, homicide investigators said. She met up with a group of friends but then went to a home in San Fernando. Her body was found in Bakersfield on the side of Highway 99 around 5 a.m. the next morning, according to authorities.
Her body is believed to have been transported to the side of the road in the trunk of a white 2021 Honda CRV, sheriff's officials announced. The vehicle was later found, impounded and DNA evidence discovered inside was traced to Terron, according to homicide investigators who renewed their requests for tips from the public in July.
An autopsy concluded Terron was stabbed to death, according to homicide investigators.
Terron was a mother of two and worked as a waitress at a restaurant near the VFW Post, where she was last seen alive.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
