Man Pleads Not Guilty to Capital Murder Charges

Robert Lawrence Ransom Jr. faces charges in the March 2014 slayings of two women and a 1-year-old boy

A parolee charged with raping a Los Angeles teen and trying to set her ablaze has been indicted on three counts of murder.

Robert Lawrence Ransom Jr., 31, pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges, prosecutors said.

He faces charges in the March 2014 slayings of Margarite Evans and Gisella Yauli and Yauli's 1-year-old son, Dillon Reyes and the abduction and rape of a teen.

The indictment includes the special circumstance of multiple murders. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Ransom.

Evans, 19, died after she was found near the corner of West 93rd Street and South Grand Avenue. Yauli, 28, and her son were found dead after a fire broke out in their residence in the 100 block of East 50th Street.

The indictment includes the March 20, 2014, rape, attempted murder, kidnapping to commit robbery and second-degree robbery of a 16-year-old girl who was abducted and doused with gasoline.

The teen was forced into a white van on East Gage Avenue near South San Pedro Street, assaulted and later managed to escape.

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Ransom was charged in April 2014 in her abduction and rape. That case will be dismissed following his current indictment, prosecutors said in a statement on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Ransom was on parole at the time for being a felon possessing a gun.

A co-defendant in the earlier case, Juliana Tobar, 30, is being tried separately.

She pleaded not guilty to one count each of attempted, premeditated murder, kidnapping to commit robbery, second-degree robbery and rape of the 16-year-old victim.

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