LA taco stand empire owner, employees charged in South LA car trunk murder
Taco stand co-owner charged with murder in worker's death
The co-owner of a local taco stand empire is facing murder charges in connection with a body found in a South LA tow yard last year.
LOS ANGELES - The co-owner of a popular local street food chain and two of her employees have been jailed in connection with the sophisticated, premeditated killing of a worker whose body was found in a South Los Angeles tow yard.
What we know:
The investigation centers on Ricos Tacos Naomi co-owner Mariana Yeli Yepes Cigarroa, who is accused of orchestrating the murder of her employee, 47-year-old Soledad Lopez, alongside two other workers, Sandra Romo Diaz and Oscar Oswaldo Funes Villafranca.
According to investigators, the deadly dispute allegedly traces back to a shared financial settlement from a car accident lawsuit.
Civil attorney Neama Rahmani, who jointly represented Yepes Cigarroa, Romo Diaz, and the victim, Soledad Lopez, confirmed that a payout had been reached, but noted that Lopez allegedly never received her portion of the money.
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The state alleges that Yepes Cigarroa, Romo Diaz, and Funes Villafranca then carried out a "willful, deliberate and premeditated" killing that involved high levels of "planning, sophistication, and professionalism."
On September 9, 2025, Los Angeles Police Department detectives executing a follow-up search discovered Lopez's badly burned body stuffed inside the trunk of her own Honda Civic in a tow yard on the 1900 block of West Gage Avenue.
An amended felony complaint filed on April 7, 2026, places the date of the crime on or about September 7, 2025.
Yepes Cigarroa and Romo Diaz are currently being held on $2 million bail each, while Funes Villafranca managed to leave the United States under a standing deportation order just two weeks after the murder.
What we don't know:
Lopez's cause of death has not been released by authorities.
The specific evidence that originally connected Romo Diaz, Yepez Cigarroa, and Funes Villafranca to the vehicle and the burning of the body is unknown.
Timeline:
- September 7, 2025: The estimated date of Lopez's murder, according to the felony complaint.
- September 9, 2025: LAPD Missing Persons Unit detectives locate Lopez's body inside a burned Honda Civic at a South Los Angeles tow yard.
- Late September 2025: Co-defendant Funes Villafranca leaves the country under a standing deportation order.
- April 7, 2026: The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office files an amended complaint officially identifying Lopez and leveling premeditated murder charges against all three suspects.
What they're saying:
Attorneys for the two women currently in custody maintain that their clients are completely innocent.
"They have the wrong person for this terrible allegation, as it turns out, and as the facts get fleshed out, we're confident that she's going to be completely exonerated," said Justin Rodriguez, the defense attorney representing Yepes Cigarroa.
Romo Diaz’s attorney also pushed back against the prosecution's narrative, stating, "I think that the evidence is going to show her involvement is not what it's drawn up to be."
Reflecting on the alleged financial motive, the victim's former civil attorney Rahmani said, "I certainly hope no one would be killed over a car accident settlement."
What's next:
Romo Diaz is scheduled for an upcoming evidentiary hearing to determine if the prosecution has sufficient evidence to move forward to a full criminal trial.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles prosecutors and law enforcement are actively working with international authorities to extradite Oswaldo Funes Villafranca back to the United States to face trial.
The Source: This report is compiled from direct interviews with defense attorneys Justin Rodriguez and Sandra Romo Diaz's counsel, alongside civil attorney Neama Rahmani. Supplemental background and legal frameworks were verified through official Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office court filings and Los Angeles Police Department investigative records.