Man who murdered 19-year-old Los Banos woman and her unborn daughter sentenced
Jonathan Xavier Dorado, who was convicted of murdering a Los Banos woman and her unborn child, will face the rest of his life in prison, the Merced County District Attorney announced Thursday.
Dorado was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, and one count of attempted murder.
The DA announced in a Facebook post that Dorado was sentenced on Wednesday to 82 years to life for one murder conviction and life without parole for the other.
Dorado, who was 19 at the time of the murder, shot and killed Tatyanna Lopez, 19, of Los Banos, and her unborn daughter who was going to be named Ayanna Lopez, in Merced’s Loughborough area in April 2021. Tatyanna was two weeks away from giving birth .
The shooting that killed Tatyanna and Ayanna also injured Tatyanna’s boyfriend, Angel Legrande.
Tatyanna’s mother, Victoria Hogue, spoke to the Merced Sun-Star in 2021.
“My daughter was only 19, and was about to have her first baby. We painted the nursery, she’s been putting the clothes away — now I have all these baby girl clothes. All I have left of my daughter is a monkey stuffed animal with her baby’s heartbeat in it. That’s all I have left of my daughter,” she said.
Dorado is finally tracked down in Mexico
In 2022, a year after the murders, Dorado was still on the loose.
Just a few months later, on Aug. 12, Dorado was tracked down in Mexico and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. He was extradited to the U.S. and booked into the Merced County Jail a few days later. Dorado was 21 at the time of his arrest.
A Merced County jury found Dorado guilty in November.
“Tatyanna taught me the meaning of unconditional love. I was ever so blessed for 19.5 years with her unconditional love,” Tatyanna’s family said in a statement after the sentencing.
About Ayanna, the family said: “I never got to meet you, hold you, rock you, paint your nails or put ‘lip lip’ on you (as your mom would say). I will always miss you.”
The prosecution was led by Deputy District Attorneys Angelica Lozano and Natalia Enero.
