When cousins “Karlita” and Karime were growing up in the City of San Fernando, the young girls were inseparable. They both attended San Fernando Elementary School, had fun playing games and teasing each other and giggled together all the time.
Karime never expected the unimaginable loss and devastation she would experience two decades later, when “Karlita” – Karla Terron – was brutally murdered at the age of 27 in December of 2022, leaving behind two young sons, a grieving mother and other anguished loved ones.
Nineteen months later, Terron’s murder remains unsolved, but new DNA evidence recently revealed by investigators – and a renewed plea to the public for information – is giving her family hope that there could finally be a much-needed break in the case and justice for Terron.
Born in Mexicali, Terron, an only child, immigrated to the U.S. with her mother when she was 7 years old, settling in San Fernando, where they initially moved in with Karime’s family.
“We always saw her like our sister,” recalled Karime, who declined to share her last name citing privacy concerns and the active Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) murder investigation.
“My dad, to this day, would often say, ‘Karlita is like another daughter to me.’ We would have sleepovers together, we would go to the park together, we prank-called people together – we did everything together,” she added.
Karime described her cousin as a vivacious person who loved to dance, often posted silly Instagram reels with her kids and enjoyed joking around with relatives on their group chat.
“If you were around Karlita, you were always going to be laughing,” said Karime. “Obviously, like in any family … everybody has their ups and downs sometimes. [But] to say she brought joy to our lives is an understatement.”
DNA Evidence is Found – LASD Asks for Public’s Help
Karime, other relatives and LASD Homicide Detective Theo Baljet, one of the lead detectives on the case, are asking the public for help solving the young mom’s murder. When she died, Terron was living in Arleta with her children and working as a receptionist at an auto body shop. She was last seen alive at the bar in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post, located at 111 N. Hagar Street in San Fernando, the evening of Dec. 16, 2022, according to Baljet. He said they believe Terron later went to a home in the City of San Fernando where she was murdered.
Terron’s remains were found at approximately 5 a.m. the following morning on the southbound State Route 99, at the Hosking Road off-ramp in Bakersfield. Her body had been burned; the cause of death was multiple stab wounds.
On July 11, Baljet, LASD Lt. Michael Modica and other authorities held a press conference on Hagar Street across from the San Fernando VFW to share the latest on the case: Detectives impounded and examined a white four-door 2021 Honda CR-V, which tested positive for Terron’s DNA. They believe it was the vehicle used to transport Terron’s body from San Fernando to Bakersfield.
“At this time we’re mainly looking for witnesses,” explained Baljet, who said Terron was inside the vehicle when it was somewhere on Knox Street in San Fernando at some point after she was last seen at the VFW. LASD officers canvassed the Knox Street neighborhood on July 11 to ask if anyone had seen the Honda CR-V in the vicinity. Baljet emphasized that they already have the vehicle in question; they are just trying to obtain new information to move the case forward.
“We’re not disclosing all the details, because we don’t want to taint the statements that any witnesses might make,” he said.
Karime commended Baljet and the LASD for staying on the case. She said she hopes that anyone who was at or near the VFW, Knox Street or the Bakersfield site between Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 will take the time to look at their photos or videos from those dates to look for any possible clues.
“I know that people might hesitate because they’re scared – I think everybody is scared,” said Karime. “I understand – you don’t know what kind of door you’re opening, but you can always submit your information anonymously, or submit it to the Instagram that’s being used for Karlita – Buscando a Karlita. We can submit any information you have to share to the detectives.”
Marco Antonio Rivera Meza, a maternal uncle of Terron who lives in Mexicali, said he understands why a potential witness might be reluctant to come forward, but he hopes if anyone is sitting on vital information that they will reach out to authorities and report what they know.
“It has been a very difficult and painful situation for the whole family, including my sister Karla, who is Karlita’s mother; she has suffered terribly,” Meza told the San Fernando Sun/el Sol during a phone interview from his home.
“The entire family has been very deeply impacted, in particular because of the way Karlita died, being murdered like that,” said Meza, who traveled to the San Fernando Valley to identify his niece’s body after it was discovered “to spare my sister from having to live through such a horrible experience.”
“It has caused us sadness, depression and, in my case, it has made me feel powerless not being able to be in the same city with the rest of the family most of the time,” he said, adding that he prays he will get to see the killer or killers brought to justice, “for Karlita and for her children.”
Karime said she will continue to do whatever she can to encourage law enforcement and the public to not let her cousin’s tragic murder be forgotten and become another “faceless” statistic.
“I can’t let her be just one more number or just another statistic or just another case that goes unsolved,” said Karime, noting that in the 19 months since her cousin’s murder, the ones most affected by the loss are the ones who needed her most: her two sons, who are now 7 and 11.
“As a mom, she always made sure her kids had everything that they needed,” she said. “Whoever did this to Karlita, they’ve had two Christmases with their family, they’ve been able to enjoy their day-to-day life without any sort of interruptions. But her kids have had two Christmases without their mom. They have had to endure the new normalcy of not having a mother.”
To those who post rude comments on news stories or social media posts about her cousin, Karime suggests they “think” before posting remarks that her kids or loved ones might read.
“Think about her as a person – as your mom, as your sister, as your cousin, as your family,” she said. “If you have nothing helpful towards the case, then so be it – scroll along. But if you have something that’s going to be beneficial or is going to be helpful, then please share it.”
Anyone with information about the murder of Karla Terron can contact the Homicide Bureau of the LA County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500. For the family’s Instagram page about Karla Terron, go to: www.instagram.com/buscandoakarlita.