Guilty Verdict In 2016 Murder Of Alameda County Sheriff's Explorer Karla Ramirez

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A jury found an Oakland man guilty in the brutal stabbing death in 2016 of Karla Ramirez-Segoviano, a 21-year-old Alameda County Sheriff's explorer.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office said Monday Curtys Taylor was found guilty on April 29 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Ramirez-Segoviano on November 2, 2016 at Arroyo Viejo Park.

Taylor plotted with his girlfriend Laura Rodgers to kill Ramirez-Segoviano, a co-worker and Rodgers' former girlfriend, according to the DA's office. Prosecutors said Taylor was upset that Rodgers was cheating on him by also having a relationship with Ramirez-Segoviano, and that Taylor and Rodgers plotted for months on a plan to kill her.

The DA's office said Taylor and Rodgers lured Ramirez-Segoviano to Arroyo Viejo Park, where Taylor stabbed Ramirez-Segoviano at least 36 times. After killing her, Taylor poured gasoline on his victim's body and set her on fire. Taylor and Rodgers then stole Ramirez-Segoviano's car and drove away from the scene, prosecutors said.

Rodgers pled guilty to murder and conspiracy charges in December of 2020, while Taylor elected to go to trial. Both Rodgers and Taylor will be sentenced together at the same hearing.

Ramirez, a San Leandro resident, was a volunteer Explorer at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and had dreams of becoming a police officer, the DA's office said.

"This is a senseless, tragic, and horrific murder of a 21-year-old woman who had her whole life ahead of her," prosecutor Allyson Donovan said in a prepared statement. "Her family steadfastly attended every court date for the past four and a half years, and we hope that yesterday's verdict brings them a sense of justice being done."