Neighbor Pleads Not Guilty in Killing of 4

A South Whittier man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he had stabbed to death four members of a neighboring family, including an 8-year-old girl who, authorities allege, was sexually assaulted.

Alfonso Ignacio Morales, 23, wearing a yellow and blue County Jail uniform, appeared briefly at Norwalk Superior Court before Judge Michael A. Cowell. Morales appeared beside his attorney, public defender Jerry Weil.

As he was being led from the courtroom, Morales looked back, his eyes searching for his mother and stepfather, who were sitting at the back of the courtroom.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 2. Morales is being held without bail at Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles.

The bodies of Miguel Ruiz, 38; his wife, Maritza Trejo, 41; their daughter, Jasmin; and Ruiz’s grandmother, Ana Luisa Martinez, 79, were found July 13 by relatives.

Morales, who was described by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators as a neighbor and family friend of the victims, was arrested the next day.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed an eight-count complaint, charging him with the murders, robbery, burglary and sex offenses against a child.

Special circumstances, such as multiple murder and murder during the commission of lewd act on a child, could make Morales subject to the death penalty.