LAPD Cracks Cold-Case Probe of 2001 Slaying Thanks to DNA Evidence NR17212ma

Los Angeles – On July 11, 2017 Hugo Lara reached a plea agreement with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in which he pled guilty to a charge of murder for the brutal stabbing of Alfredo Trevino. Lara is expected to be sentenced to 22 years in state prison on July 31st, which will run consecutive to the five years he has remaining on a robbery sentence he is currently serving in state prison. On December 17, 2001, three suspects entered the La Cita Bar in East Los Angeles. Two of the suspects attacked and began stabbing the bar owner, Alfredo Trevino. They stabbed and slashed Trevino103 times and he died at the scene. At the time, La Cita Bar was a neighborhood staple in East Los Angeles. LAPD detectives spent hundreds of hours gathering information and investigating the crime, but the case went cold in 2006. In January, 2012, LAPD Reserve Officer and former Los Angeles City Councilmember Greig Smith took over the case and after many hundreds hours of additional detective work, received a positive DNA match on evidence gathered at the murder scene. The DNA evidence that tied Lara to the crime was found on pieces of rubber gloves recovered in the bar. Smith.presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 2015, resulting in the filing of an arrest warrant for Lara. This case marks the first time that a Reserve Police Officer has been the Investigating Officer for a murder case successfully adjudicated in court using DNA evidence. Reserve Officer Smith began his career with LAPD in 1992, working patrol. He was assigned to the Special Problems Unit and Valley Bureau Crash, for 13 years. Smith transferred to the famous Robbery-Homicide Division in 2005 and worked as a case screener in the Cold Case Homicide Unit. In 2009, Smith was requested by RHD Commanding Officer to go to Detective School and be certified to handle his own cases. After completion of training, Smith became the first Reserve Officer ever to work as a Detective in Robbery-Homicide Division. For interviews, please contact Reserve Officer Smith at citycouncilguy@yahoo.com.