Police: Man accused of killing teen girl said he strangled her

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | 11:46 a.m.

A 19-year-old Las Vegas man arrested in connection with the death and alleged sexual assault of a teen girl told police he strangled her before dumping her body in a vacant lot in northeast Las Vegas, according to a Metro Police arrest report released today.

Juan Rivera was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Monday on counts of murder, sexual assault and robbery in the death of 14-year-old Diana Soto, whose body was found by a passerby early Sunday in a lot near the intersection of Owens Avenue and Marion Drive.

A Clark County Coroner’s Office spokeswoman said Wednesday that an official cause and manner of death was still pending.

Police said the girl suffered traumatic injuries and appeared to have been sexually assaulted and her clothing was in disarray. She had a black eye, abrasions on her face and neck and wounds on the back of her head, the police report said.

The report stated that Soto’s mother reported her missing late Sunday afternoon. Detectives on Monday morning responded to the home with a photograph of the girl who had been found dead. Soto’s family identified her.

In the course of their investigation, detectives spoke with Rivera, Soto’s older sister’s boyfriend. When investigators spoke with him, they saw that Rivera had scratches on his face.

Rivera told the investigating officers he had last seen Soto at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, when she left her home to go to a friend’s house.

Rivera agreed to come to the Metro homicide bureau for questioning and to take a lie detector test, which he failed, police said.

In a follow up interview with police, Rivera said through a Spanish interpreter he had been with Soto on Saturday night, the report said.

He said that at 11:30 p.m., Soto asked him to drive her to a friend’s house. He said they left the Soto home in a brown van that belonged to the girl’s mother. While they waited in the van outside the friend’s house, Soto and Rivera began to argue, Rivera told investigators.

Rivera told police he was upset about decisions Soto was making in her life; Soto reacted by scratching Rivera on his throat and chest. He then became angry and grabbed the girl around the neck, strangling her, the report stated.

He said she scratched his face as he held her "'for a minute' until blood came from her nose and mouth and she no longer moved," the report said.

Rivera said he drove away. He told police he took Soto’s cell phone and sent various text messages to the girl’s friend to make him believe she was still coming over, the report said.

He told investigators he had to push her head over to keep her body from falling on him as he drove, the report said.

He said after he put her in the vacant parking lot, he drove back to the Soto home. He took the girl’s cell phone, broke it in half and threw it away in a neighbor’s trash can. He then went to sleep.

He denied having sex with or sexually assaulting the girl. DNA samples were taken from both the girl and Rivera and results are pending.

Rivera is being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.