Investigators looked to the public Wednesday to provide information about a man who police say fatally stabbed the 3-year-old daughter of a co-worker at a downtown Los Angeles garment factory.
Ruby Vasquez of Los Angeles was attacked when she was visiting her mother at work around 5:15 p.m. on Monday in the 800 block of McGarry Street, near Eighth and Alameda streets, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Moses Castillo said. Ruby was standing next to her mother when she was stabbed.
Ruby was driven from the scene by her parents, who were met by a rescue ambulance en route to a hospital, where she was ultimately pronounced dead, Castillo said.
Ricardo Augusto Utuy, 34, a Guatemalan national, fled the scene but later surrendered at the LAPD’s Rampart Station and was arrested on suspicion of murder, Castillo said.
Castillo said Utuy has a criminal history, but he would not elaborate and did not offer any information about the man’s mental state, immigration status or how long he has been in the U.S.
“We still don’t know the motive,” the sergeant said.
The only known connection between Utuy and the victim is the fact that the suspect worked with the girl’s mother, and even at that, the two had minimal contact with one another, he said.
“They didn’t know each other and the suspect had only been there for about two weeks,” Castillo said.
The girl was brought to her mother’s workplace by her father after getting out of daycare, which the sergeant called a fairly regular occurrence.
Utuy was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to sheriff’s online inmate records.
Investigators were asking members of the public to come forward with any information they might have about Utuy, by calling detectives with the Abused Child Section of the LAPD’s Juvenile Division at (213) 486-0586.
After-hours and weekend calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.
