Sacramento man pleads guilty to murder, sexual assault of girl, 6

A man who called 911 to report his girlfriend's 6-year-old daughter missing has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the child and killing her before setting her body on fire.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO - A man who called 911 to report his girlfriend's 6-year-old daughter missing has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the child and killing her before setting her body on fire.

The Sacramento Bee newspaper reported Wednesday that 25-year-old Juan Rivera will be sentenced in August.

Medical examiners previously testified that Rivera killed Jadianna Larsen in May 2015 with a blunt instrument, then drove 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Sacramento and burned her body near a rural road.

Rivera is accused of returning to Sacramento, where he called 911 and told authorities he had passed out and woke up to find the girl gone.

Detectives testified that DNA found on the girl's underwear matched Rivera and pings from cellular towers tracked him going roundtrip from Sacramento to rural Glenn County, where her body was found.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor