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PROVO — An Orem man admitted to killing his live-in girlfriend in front of one of their children in May 2022 during a recent court hearing.
Luis Manuel Vargas Lopez, 29, pleaded guilty on Nov. 8 to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.
Initially, Vargas was charged with capital murder, but the charge was downgraded as part of a plea deal. Additionally, a second count of domestic violence in the presence of a child and a count of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
On May 9, 2022, about 8:30 p.m., emergency crews responded to 1079 N. 185 West on a report of a woman who was unconscious and not breathing, charging documents said.
They said Vargas "tortured the victim, (and) caused serious physical abuse, both of which resulted in her death."
The woman, Celina Cruz Maciel, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Vargas reported they had been together six years and had two children, a police booking affidavit said.
Police said Vargas reported leaving the home hours earlier after getting into an argument with his girlfriend and returning later to find her "slumped over in a chair next to a bottle of floor cleaner," the affidavit states.
The affidavit said officers noticed significant injuries on the woman's face, and a puncture wound above her left eyebrow that "is believed to be part of a broken skull."
Footage from a nearby doorbell camera showed Vargas left the residence for 12 minutes, not hours as he had said.
A friend told police Vargas had called him about 10 minutes before police were called asking for help. The friend said he could hear Vargas telling his girlfriend to keep breathing, and arrived to find Vargas doing CPR on the victim, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said police noted Cruz's eyes were swollen and bruised. Police estimated she had been dead for about four-and-a-half hours before police were called.
In the same plea deal, Vargas pleaded guilty in a separate case to possession of a firearm as a restricted person, a second-degree felony. His statement said he is not legally in the U.S. and so he is not allowed to possess firearms.
The case was filed after officers, who were serving a search warrant on the home shortly after the murder, found a gun that had been reported stolen in a van that was being used as a storage shed at the home.
Charges for theft and unlawfully possessing another person's identification documents were also dismissed in that case as part of the plea.
