How DNA from spitting on the sidewalk helped land a murderer in prison for life

A 38-year-old Torrance man who was convicted of raping and murdering two women and dumping their bodies near Los Angeles freeways more than 10 years ago has been sentenced to life without parole.

And it was DNA evidence collected from spit on a sidewalk that helped authorities crack the case.

Geovanni Borjas was arrested in May 2017 and convicted in the slayings of Michelle Lozano and Breanna Guzman in October after his trial was delayed by the pandemic. On Monday, Borjas was given a life sentence.

“Both families have endured a tremendous and incalculable loss,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said after Borjas pleaded no contest to two counts each of first-degree murder and forcible rape and one count of kidnapping. “The pain for the victims’ families will never go away, but I want to make sure they continue to receive the services they need as they move forward.”

The prosecution had originally sought the death penalty but withdrew its petition in March 2021 after Gascón, who opposes the death penalty, took office.

Lozano, then 17, of Los Angeles, was found dead in April 2011 near the 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Guzman, then 22, was found dead in January 2012 on a 2 Freeway onramp near Riverside Drive in Echo Park, according to the LAPD. Guzman had told family members that she was going out to buy cold medicine and never returned home.

Law enforcement caught a break when analysis of DNA collected at the crime scenes indicated that the perpetrator was closely related to Borjas’ father, who had previously been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence assault. Geovanni Borjas was placed under surveillance, and investigators collected his saliva after observing him spitting on the sidewalk. The sample matched the DNA found at the crime scenes.

“This is just a chapter that is going to close right now, and I can begin my grieving because I was on a mission. I was on a mission,” Darlene Duran, Guzman’s mother, told KTLA-TV. “I’m the mother who needed to know who hurt my daughter.”