Los Angeles man charged with killing his girlfriend and abducting child

Los Angeles County prosecutors on Thursday charged a 40-year-old man with killing his girlfriend and abducting their 5-year-old child before fleeing to Mexico earlier this week. 

Ruben Fregosojuarez faces one count of murder and one misdemeanor count of child abuse under circumstance or conditions other than great bodily injury or death, according to the LA County District Attorney's Office. 

If convicted as charged, Fregosojuarez faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

"The killing of a mother and the abduction of a young child is the kind of violence that shocks the entire community," LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. "I cannot imagine the grief and fear that the innocent child faced as she was allegedly snatched after her mother was killed."

Hochman said investigators are working with federal and Mexican law enforcement to locate Fregosojuarez. 

Fregosojuarez allegedly killed his 36-year-old girlfriend on or around May 25 and fled to Mexico with the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Daleyza Fregoso.

The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert for the case, saying that Fregosojuarez and his daughter were last seen in a white Land Rover which was found abandoned in a parking structure in San Ysidro, a city at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Officers described Fregosojuarez as a 5-foot-9 man and weighing around 200 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. 

Daleyza Fregoso is about 3 feet tall and weighs around 45 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.