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Nearly three decades after a 23-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in a drainage ditch in Azusa, California, prosecutors announced charges Monday against a 63-year-old man in a long-cold homicide case that investigators said was solved through DNA evidence.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Brian Walton was charged with one count of murder, with special circumstance allegations that the killing of Claudia Guevara occurred during the commission of rape and sodomy.
“The victim’s family has waited for an agonizing 30 years to get that call to let them know their loved one’s killer had been found and charged,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
“While this was classified as a cold case, investigators and prosecutors never stopped in their relentless pursuit of justice, reaffirming our commitment to holding people accountable for the crimes they are accused of committing,” he added.
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L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna, right, listens as Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 3, 2026. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Guevara, who was reported missing by her brother on Feb. 20, 1996, was last seen at a bus stop in El Monte. She had been dropped off by two co-workers and was never seen again.
Her nude body was found the following day in a drainage ditch near Encanto Parkway, where investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the neck.
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Sunshine lights up Bunker Hill and Los Angeles’ financial district after morning showers, seen from a rooftop along Spring Street on Sept. 10, 1996. (Ken Lubas/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Hochman’s office said DNA evidence linked Walton, who did not know the victim, to the crime.
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Jail records from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reviewed by Digital show that Walton was arrested on Feb. 5 and is being held without bail.
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His next court appearance is scheduled for March 18 at 8:30 a.m.
If convicted, Walton faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty, though prosecutors said a decision on whether to seek capital punishment will be made later.
