February 9, 2026: Man Charged With Decades-Old Slaying of 23-Year-Old Woman Whose Body Was Found in Azusa Drainage Ditch

LOS ANGELES - A 63-year-old man was charged today with the 1996 fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old woman who was reported missing by her older brother and had last been seen at a bus stop in El Monte.

"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 J. Hochman said. "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."

Brian Walton (dob 11/19/62) of Los Angeles was charged in case 26CJCF00858 with one count of murder with the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a rape and murder during the commission of sodomy. He is expected to be arraigned today in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

On Feb. 20, 1996, Claudia Guevara went missing after her brother, who she was living with in Temple City, said she did not come home. She had been dropped off at a bus stop in El Monte by two co-workers and was never seen again.

Guevara's nude body was found the next day in a drainage ditch next to Encanto Parkway. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the neck.

As will be proven in court, DNA evidence linked the defendant, who did not know Guevara, to the crime.

If convicted as charged, Walton faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or death. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date.

The case is being prosecuted by Beth Silverman of the Major Crimes Division and remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau.

The charges filed in this case are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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