Sheriff’s Department is seeking public’s help in 2022 killing of woman whose body was then set on fire

Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators are seeking the public’s help for information surrounding the 2022 killing of a young mother who was repeatedly stabbed and whose body was then set on fire.

Karla Terron, 27, met with her friends at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando on Dec. 16, 2022, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Thursday. She later went to a home in San Fernando where she was killed.

Her body is believed to have been transported to Bakersfield in the trunk of a white 2021 Honda CRV, sheriff’s officials said. The vehicle was later found, impounded and DNA evidence discovered inside that was traced to Terron.

Anyone who may have seen the vehicle at the VFW Post around Knox Street in San Fernando or in Bakersfield on Dec. 17, 2022, is encouraged to contact sheriff’s homicide investigators.

“We hope people will have the courage to come forward and help investigators identify the information they’re looking for,” Detective Michael Modica said during a news conference attended by Terron’s family outside the VFW Post on Thursday. “This information will help make this an even stronger case.”

Terron’s body was found on the Hoskings Road offramp on Highway 99 around 5 a.m. the day after she was seen at the VFW Post. While her body was engulfed in flames, autopsy reports show she was stabbed multiple times, according to homicide investigators.

There are second- and third-hand accounts that witnesses heard a gunshot on Knox Street on the night Terron was last seen alive, Modica said. Her phone has not been found since her death.

Investigators did not provide any information about who owned the Honda CRV but asked the public to come forward if they have any information related to the investigation.

Terron, who was the mother of two children, worked at a nearby restaurant as a waitress, according to Modica. Investigators have “persons of interest” in the case but did not say how they were connected to the case.

Anyone with information on the case can contact homicide investigators at (323) 890-5500.