Details Emerge in Grisly Beheading of 13-Year-Old Alabama Girl

During a preliminary hearing for Yoni Martinez Aguilar — who is suspected to have murdered 13--year-old Mariah Lopez and her legal guardian, 49-year-old Oralia Mendoza — details began to emerge about the killings.

Staff Writer
July 17, 2018

During a preliminary hearing for Yoni Martinez Aguilar — who is suspected to have murdered 13-year-old Mariah Lopez and her legal guardian, 49-year-old Oralia Mendoza in June— details began to emerge about the killings.

Aguilar — who was Mendoza’s live-in boyfriend — reportedly "told detectives that Mendoza was involved with the Sinaloa drug cartel," According to WSB-TV.

Along with 26-year-old Aguilar, a 34-year-old associate named Israel Gonzalez Palomino is also charged with two counts of capital murder.

According to AL.com, "Palomino, Aguilar, Mendoza, and a woman named Leticia Garcia went to pick up a quarter kilo of meth in Norcross, Georgia."

An argument ensued, and Aguilar told police that Palomino killed Mendoza.

Because the teenage girl was a witness, the suspects took the girl to a secluded area nearby, and reportedly killed her.

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