Man sentenced for 1993 murder at Lynwood motel
A man who was previously convicted of a 1993 murder at a Lynwood motel was sentenced to state prison for 15 years to life on Friday.
Anthony Winston, 66, was sentenced in what Superior Court Judge David Herriford called a "very vicious attack with a blunt instrument" on 29-year-old Barnetta Burrell Navarro that left her dead at the Curve Motel.
He was convicted on Nov. 13 os second-degree murder for her killing and for hiding her body afterwards, court document said.
Navarro's decomposing body, which was nude from the waist down, was found stuff into a space between the supports underneath the motel room's bed frame on April 5, 1993, prosecutors said.The discovery was made after a motel guest complained about an odor in the room.
Navarro's husband said that he last saw her on April 1, 1993 when he dropped her off a few blocks from the motel, court papers said.
Prosecutors were still unable to determine a motive in the killing. Winston was linked to the incident by DNA testing, prosecutors said.
When he was initially questioned by detectives, Winston said that he did not know Navarro. In a later interview he told them that she let him have sex with her but he left the room after. He claimed to have heard about her death at a later time, court documents said.
Winston was arrested in December 2023 by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies for the murder. He has remained behind bars since. He was also convicted in 1995 for making criminal threats.
