A Simi Valley man has been charged with killing his girlfriend, who authorities say was stabbed to death in front of her own children.

Ramon Joseph Rivas, 34, was charged with murder and two counts of child endangerment, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said.

Rivas is accused of stabbing his girlfriend, Jessica Marie Tinoco, last week during a domestic dispute at her home in Simi Valley.

Tinoco, who loved ones said was a mother to five children, was stabbed multiple times in the front of her home in front of several of her children. The children, authorities said, had fled to the front of the home and called 911 after Rivas arrived and allegedly began attacking their mother.

Officers from the Simi Valley Police Department arrived on scene and arrested Rivas without incident.

As they entered the home, they found Tinoco suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was transported to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead from her injuries.

Rivas made his first appearance in Ventura County Superior Court on Monday, and his arraignment was continued to Oct. 30.

He currently remains in custody without bail.

On Monday, more than 100 people attended a vigil to remember Tinoco, who they said had a “pure soul,” and whose biggest flaw was that she cared too much about those who did not deserve her affection.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone who is a victim or survivor of domestic violence who is need of help to connect with a victim advocate at the Ventura County Family Justice Center in Ventura.

Requests for service can be made in person, by email, call or text. Details can be found here.

Residents are on edge after a string of destructive burglaries continues targeting Long Beach businesses.

Surveillance video captured the moment a hooded suspect smashed their way into a restaurant and escaped with the cash register.

The break-in occurred on Sept. 30 at Speak Cheezy pizzeria in the Belmont Heights neighborhood just after midnight.

The owner, Jason Winters, believes the brazen theft was premeditated.

“It was very quick,” Winters said. “He didn’t go any deeper than the register. He knew exactly what he was going for.”

Winters said luckily the cash register was empty, but the costs to repair the destruction left behind will be expensive.

“We are probably talking $1,500 to $2,000 in damages for the door, cash register, point of sale system,” he said.

Winters also noted the recent burglary wasn’t the first time his pizzeria was targeted.

In January 2023, another suspect broke in using a crowbar and escaped with the restaurant’s safe from the basement, resulting in a $5,000 loss.

Winters said the uptick in destructive burglaries is hard on small business owners and even worse, it seems to be affecting more shop owners nowadays.

“It’s disheartening, like the fact that this isn’t just [affecting] me,” Winters said.

The shop next door, Ambiance Skin Care & Day Spa, was burglarized twice in a six-week period and is still recovering from the destruction left behind.

Local business owners are frustrated with the ongoing crime while also worried their store may be targeted next.

Many said they would like to see harsher penalties for smash-and-grab burglaries, hoping stricter consequences will deter thieves before a future confrontation turns violent or even deadly.

“More repercussions for people who are doing this, if they did get caught,” Winters said. “He took off on a bike and there was probably a getaway car. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

The suspect remains at large. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Long Beach Police Department at 562-570-7260.

A 58-year-old man who formerly lived in downtown Los Angeles pleaded guilty to trafficking a stolen Andy Warhol print worth at least $175,000, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.  

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California Office say the Warhol print of former Soviet Union leader Vladimir Lenin, which was number 44 out of 46 prints the famous artist made, was stolen out of an L.A. County home in early 2021.  

According to a DOJ news release, the person who owned the artwork reported the theft to law enforcement, as well as to the West Hollywood gallery where the print was purchased.  

Days after the Warhol print was stolen, the thief sold it to a pawn shop who contacted Brian Alec Light, now a resident of Hudson, Ohio for help selling the piece.  

Light, who was aware the artwork was stolen, arranged for it to be sold at an auction house within weeks of the theft, prosecutors said.  

“Light told the pawn shop owner to drop off the Warhol at the auction house in Beverly Hills so that it could be transported to Dallas for inspection and sale, which the pawn shop owner did,” the release noted.  

When an employee of the Dallas-based auction house, who planned on including the Warhol print in a spring 2021 auction, contacted the West Hollywood gallery for its opinion on the piece, the gallery immediately recognized the stolen Warhol artwork and subsequently informed the Dallas-based auction house and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

“When the FBI questioned Light about it, he lied and created a fake receipt purporting to show that he bought the print before it was stolen,” prosecutors said.  

Light faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, and as part of his plea agreement, the 58-year-old “will forfeit the stolen artwork retrieved by law enforcement.”  

The investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI’s Art Crime Team, is ongoing.