California IN BRIEF : SAN PEDRO : Man Sentenced in Girl’s Murder

A man convicted of molesting and killing his girlfriend’s 8-year-old daughter, then dumping the body in a San Pedro park and setting it ablaze, was sentenced Thursday to 42 years to life in prison. Alejandro Lara, 30, was sentenced by Superior Court Commissioner Florence-Marie Cooper for the May 11, 1989, murder of Alba Susanna Flores. Lara was found guilty of murder, committing lewd acts upon a child and child abuse. The murder trial for the girl’s mother, Natividad Flores, 28, begins next week. After her burning body was found in the park, her mother told police that the girl had left home in anger after being refused ice cream money. She later changed her story and said Alba was punished for refusing to take a bath. Police said the mother admitted hitting the girl with a broom handle, kicking her and tying her up with shoelaces in the apartment she shared with Lara.