Shocking discovery: Woman’s body found under chain link fence
A horrific incident has come to light: a 27-year-old woman’s body was discovered under a chain link fence, brutally beaten to death with a fire extinguisher. The worsening of the crime scene being that her body was abandoned at a construction site with a sandbag covering her head, according to police.
Authorities arrested Dino Rojas-Moreno, a 26-year-old bartender from Laguna Hills, California, in connection with the gruesome murder of Tatum Goodwin, after her lifeless body was found on Sunday around 8:20 a.m. by a worker at the construction site in the 100 block of S. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.
Further details revealed that Goodwin’s body was found under a chain link fence with a sandbag over her head that Sunday morning, as per a statement from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
“Rojas-Moreno is accused of approaching Goodwin in a nearby parking lot around 1 a.m. that morning and assaulting her near her parked car,” the district attorney’s statement read. “Rojas-Moreno then forcefully dragged her to the rear of the parking lot, down a short alley, and to a secluded area behind a movie theater that was under construction. Rojas-Moreno is then accused of beating Goodwin to death with a fire extinguisher. Goodwin’s body was found several hours later.”
It remains unclear if Goodwin had a previous relationship with Rojas-Moreno, but the suspect failed to show up for work the day of the murder, claiming he had been attacked by multiple men in Santa Ana, according to authorities.
“The loss of an innocent life is a travesty for the entire community,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “It is heartbreaking that a young woman with her entire future ahead of her had her life ended in such a brutal way and then discarded like her life never mattered. She mattered, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring that justice is served.”
Rojas-Moreno currently faces a felony count of murder, along with felony enhancements for special circumstances of committing the crime during a kidnapping and for personal use of a fire extinguisher as a weapon, according to the district attorney’s office.
He is being held in custody without bail and is due to be arraigned at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana on Monday. The investigation is ongoing, and if convicted, Rojas-Moreno could face the death penalty.
