Jorge Avila-Torrez

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Jorge Avila-Torrez
Born (1988-08-18) August 18, 1988 (age 35)
Zion, Illinois, U.S.
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)Federal
First degree murder (18 U.S.C. § 1111)
Virginia
Abduction with the intent to defile (3 counts)
Forcible sodomy (3 counts)
Robbery (2 counts)
Rape
Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony (4 counts)
Illinois
First degree murder (2 counts)
Criminal penaltyFederal
Death
Virginia
5 life sentences plus 168 years
Illinois
100 years imprisonment
Details
Victims5 (3 murders, 2 assaults)
Span of crimes
2005–2009
CountryUnited States
State(s)Illinois, Virginia
Date apprehended
February 2010

Jorge Avila-Torrez (born August 18, 1988)[1] is an American serial killer and rapist. A resident of Zion, Illinois, Avila-Torrez murdered two girls who lived in his neighborhood in 2005 and later murdered a female Naval officer in 2009 at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall. He was sentenced to death by the federal government for that crime as well as receiving a 100-year sentence for the Illinois murders.[2]

Hobbs/Tobias murders[edit]

Eight-year-old Laura Hobbs and nine-year-old Krystal Tobias went out to play on their bicycles but failed to return by nightfall on Mother's Day in May 2005. Their families, police, and volunteers searched for the girls all night, but to no avail.[2] The girls bodies were found the following day by Hobbs's father, Jerry.[3] Both girls had suffered fatal stab wounds to their necks and faces.[4][5] In addition, they were sexually assaulted.[2]

Authorities immediately focused on Jerry Hobbs, as he was an ex-convict. Hobbs had moved to the city in the summer of 2005 from Texas to reconcile with his girlfriend and three children following an incident where he chased off a man with a chainsaw.[2] Police arrested him for possession of a knife, and after a lengthy interrogation, he confessed to the murders.[4]

Hobbs spent the following five years in a Lake County jail awaiting trial, despite his defense team and a private laboratory finding that semen samples taken from Laura's body did not match Jerry in 2008.[2]

Then 16-year-old Jorge Avila-Torrez lived in the neighborhood and was acquainted with the girls, as he was friends with Krystal's older half-brother.

Virginia crimes[edit]

Murder of Amanda Snell[edit]

Not long after the double murder, Avila-Torrez joined the Marines.[4][5] He was stationed at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall in Arlington County, Virginia. In 2009, he attacked 20-year-old Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Jean Snell, a Naval Military Intelligence specialist, strangling her to death in the barracks area.[2] He escaped detection for the murder until he was apprehended for later crimes.

Virginia rapes and arrest[edit]

In February 2010, Avila-Torrez stalked and abducted two women in northern Virginia, binding them with electrical cords in their Ballston apartment. He kidnapped one of the women, [6] driving to a secluded area where he raped and strangled her before leaving her for dead at the side of the road. The woman survived and reported the crime, leading to the arrest of Avila-Torrez.[6] DNA collected and run from this case was linked to the previous murders.

Trials and imprisonment[edit]

After his arrest, Avila-Torrez was housed with 37-year-old Osama El-Atari, a former restaurateur jailed for defrauding several banks of $53 million.[6][7] In exchange for a lesser sentence, El-Atari had agreed to carry a wiretap on him, and during one of their recorded conversations, he asked Jorge if he feels any remorse. In response, Avila-Torrez replied negatively and directly implicated himself in all three murders.[6]

In October of 2010, Torrez was found guilty of rape and kidnapping charges.[8][9]

On December 10, 2010, Torrez was sentenced to five life sentences without parole plus 168 years by Arlington County Judge Benjamin Kendrick.[10][11]

In 2011, Torrez was charged by federal authorities in the death of Amanda Snell.[12][13][14]

In 2013, Jerry Hobbs received 6 million dollars from Lake County after being wrongfully accused of killing his own daughter.[15]

On April 24, 2014, a federal jury, backed by the jailhouse confession, El-Atari's testimony, and the DNA evidence, sentenced Avila-Torrez to death for the Snell murder, making him the first person since 2007 to receive such a verdict.[16][17]

A month later, a federal judge officially affirmed the jury's decision.[18][19]

Following these trials, he was extradited to Lake County and held in the county jail after his initial housing in the Red Onion State Prison.

Avila-Torrez was put on trial for the murder of the two girls that same year. His defense attorney, Jed Stone, attempted to dismiss the DNA evidence as "substandard and weak", additionally pointing out that El-Atari's testimony should be discarded, as he was found murdered during an unrelated robbery in Maryland that February.[7][20]

On September 18, 2018, Avila-Torrez pled guilty in exchange for 100 years imprisonment and a transfer from Red Onion State Prison, which Stone called "an evil, racist facility."[5][21] At his sentencing, presiding Justice Daniel Shanes told Avila-Torrez that he was a serial killer, and if he had even a spark of goodness, it was so far out of his reach that it was unattainable.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator". Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f JB Nicholas (September 19, 2018). "Ex-Marine 'Serial Killer' Sentenced to 100 Years for Mother's Day Murders of 2 Girls". Oxygen.com.
  3. ^ a b Lee Filas (September 18, 2018). "Guilty plea brings closure to notorious Lake County child killings". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Gregory Harutunian (January 2, 2019). "Zion double murder still resonates for prosecutors". Lake County Chronicle.
  5. ^ a b c Jim Newton (September 18, 2018). "'You're a serial killer': Jorge Torrez sentenced to 100 years for 2005 murder of two girls in Zion". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Tom Jackman (September 20, 2018). "Convicted killer, already facing the death penalty, admits slaying two girls in Illinois in 2005". The New Zealand Herald.
  7. ^ a b Lee Filas (September 1, 2016). "Attorney tries to block evidence in Jorge Avila-Torrez trial". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020.
  8. ^ "Ex-Marine found guilty in Arlington". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ "BREAKING NEWS -- Jorge Torrez Found Guilty". ARLnow.com. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  10. ^ "Man implicated in Zion murders sentenced in Virginia". Chicago Tribune. 10 December 2010.
  11. ^ "The Night Note: 12/10/10". 10 December 2010.
  12. ^ "Incarcerated ex-Marine charged in 2009 slaying of Navy petty officer". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ "Ex-Marine linked to girls' murders charged in death of Navy officer Amanda Snell". CBS News. 17 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Former Marine indicted in 2009 Snell murder". 26 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Man to get $6M over arrest, imprisonment in murders". Chicago Tribune. 18 September 2013.
  16. ^ "Ex-Marine Jorge Torrez Sentenced to Die in Sailor's Slaying". 24 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Zion Man Sentenced To Death For Killing Navy Officer In Virginia". CBS News. 24 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Ex-Marine Jorge Torrez formally sentenced to death by federal judge". The Washington Post.
  19. ^ "Torrez sentenced to death in sailor's murder". Chicago Tribune. 30 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Admitted bank scammer who turned into jailhouse informant in terror, murder cases found slain in truck on Maryland street". New York Daily News. 16 February 2016.
  21. ^ "Ex-Marine pleads guilty to 2005 murders of girls, ages 8 and 9, in Illinois".
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