A 19-year-old woman who was able to name her attackers in her dying breath after she was found beaten and stabbed by a California road was friends with the two people arrested over her death.
Lizette Andrea Cuesta was found soaked in blood, fighting for her life and dragging herself along the side of a road in Livermore, east of San Francisco, on Monday.
The teenager had crawled nearly 100 yards to the roadside, leaving a trail of blood behind her.
Cuesta was able to identify her attackers before dying in a hospital on Monday.
Lizette Andrea Cuesta was found soaked in blood, fighting for her life and dragging herself along the side of a road in Livermore, east of San Francisco, on Monday
Daniel Gross, 19, and his girlfriend, Melissa Leonardo, 25, were both arrested over Cuesta’s brutal murder.
Alameda County sheriff’s sergeant Ray Kelly said on Tuesday that the murder suspects were friends with the victim.
He said Cuesta had willingly got in a car with Gross and Leonardo before she was beaten and stabbed multiple times.
Authorities said Cuesta had been out in freezing weather for several hours before she was found.
‘The fact that Lizette was so strong and able to survive was really a testament to her character as a person,’ Kelly said.
Daniel Gross, 19, and his girlfriend, Melissa Leonardo, 25, were both arrested over Cuesta’s brutal murder
Cuesta was airlifted to hospital (above) but died about two hours later. She had bled so much it was impossible to tell her hair color and looked at first to have lost one of her arms
Cuesta was found severely injured by motorist Richard Loadholt and a friend who were driving by at about 2am.
They gave her a blanket and said they prayed with the teenager and kept her awake and talking until emergency responders arrived.
‘I hope it will be encouraging to her family to know that their daughter did have that spirit to fight,’ Loadholt said.
Cuesta had bled so much it was impossible to tell her hair color and looked at first to have lost one of her arms.
She was airlifted to hospital but died about two hours later.
Kelly said he couldn’t discuss a motive in the killing because the investigation was ongoing.
Both suspects are in custody at Santa Rita Jail.
The teenager had crawled nearly 100 yards to the roadside, leaving a trail of blood behind her, before she was spotted by a passing motorist
Cuesta was found severely injured by motorist Richard Loadholt and a friend who were driving by at about 2am