A man accused of fatally stabbing a bride-to-be inside her Valley Village home was scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday on murder and other charges.
Omar Armando Loera, 34, was turned over to Los Angeles police Tuesday night, hours after being arrested in the border town of Mexicali by Mexican authorities working with members of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.
Loera was charged Sept. 15 with the July 24 slaying of Cheree Osmanhodzic, 34, who had returned to her home in the 11500 block of Riverside Drive after shopping for a wedding dress with her mother and fiance.
Her fiance arrived back from a trip to the grocery store to find the suspect inside the home and chased him for several blocks before the man got away, authorities said. When he returned, the house was engulfed in flames.
Los Angeles firefighters extinguished a blaze in the home and found the woman's body inside.
News of Loera's arrest provided some relief for Osmanhodzic's family.
"When I got the news from my sister ... I had mixed emotions," the woman's mother, Gail Cameron, said at a Wednesday morning news conference. "I was happy, but I was sad. Happy because he is now in custody and will never hurt anybody again, like he did my daughter; but sad because it won't bring her back. But justice will be served. I know it will."
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The murder charge against Loera includes the special circumstance allegations of murder during a burglary and murder during an arson, which could make Loera eligible for a death sentence. Prosecutors are expected to decide later whether to seek the death penalty.
Loera is also charged with one count each of burglary, arson and assault with a deadly weapon.
The criminal complaint alleges that he used a knife to commit the crimes.
