Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Thursday court date set for man who confessed to girl’s rape, murder

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Javier Righetti

Memorial for Alyssa Otremba

A memorial for 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba is shown near Grand Teton Drive and Tee Pee Lane Monday, September 5, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Man arrested in fatal attack of 15-year-old girl walking home

Friends and family are mourning the death of 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba, who was brutally attacked and killed while walking home Friday night. Nineteen-year-old Javier Righetti has been arrested in connection with the attack.

Javier Righetti, the 19-year-old man who allegedly confessed to raping, stabbing to death then burning the body of 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba, will make his first appearance Thursday morning in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Righetti will have a 72-hour hearing at 8 a.m. Thursday in Courtroom 8D in front of Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman, where formal murder charges will be read in connection with the Arbor View High School sophomore's death.

Alyssa's burned body was found Saturday in a vacant northwest valley lot. Her mother had reported her missing after she failed to return home from a walk Friday evening, according to police.

Righetti is in the Clark County Detention Center and is being held without bail. He was arrested on charges of murder with a deadly weapon, sexual assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon.

Alyssa had sent her mother a text message about 6:30 p.m. Friday that said "I am on Grand Teton heading home, I will be home in 30 min."

Police said Righetti's friend, Daniel Ortiz, told them Monday he had been in contact with Righetti, who had told him that "he had killed a young girl in the desert area."

Ortiz told police he didn't believe Righetti, but took Righetti to a 7-Eleven store on Durango to buy matches and said Righetti bought gasoline from an Albertsons Express across the street. Ortiz said Righetti then asked him to drive him to the vacant lot near Oso Blanca Road, according to the arrest report.

However, Ortiz told him he was ill and left the scene, the police report said.

According to police, a tip from Ortiz's girlfriend led detectives to Righetti's home in the 7900 block of Willow Pines Place, near Grand Teton Drive and El Capitan Way.

Righetti allegedly confessed to Alyssa's kidnapping rape and murder, plus another robbery and rape, according to the arrest report. He told detectives he followed Alyssa to rob and rape her, then he killed her with a kitchen knife from his house, police wrote in the report.

An autopsy by the coroner confirmed the girl's identity Monday. She had more than 40 stab wounds to the face, neck, chest, stomach and thighs, according to the arrest report. An accelerant had been used to burn the body.

Friends and family have formed a makeshift memorial for Otremba at the vacant lot where she was found.

Sun reporter Jackie Valley contributed to this story.

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