Janitor charged with murder in escort’s death pleads not guilty

The Santa Ana janitor arrested in connection with the slaying of a 23-year-old escort whose body was found in a Newport Beach office complex pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Monday afternoon, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Earlier Monday, the district attorney’s office charged Nain Issac Nieto Hernandez, 29, with one felony count of murder. It did not specify a degree of murder.

If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, prosecutors said.

Newport Beach police detectives arrested Hernandez on Wednesday as a suspect in the death of Sarai Alcaraz of Long Beach.

The case unfolded just after midnight Tuesday when a woman who authorities identified as an associate of Alcaraz’s called police to report that she had lost contact with Alcaraz. The woman and a man had been looking for Alcaraz after Alcaraz stopped responding to their calls and texts, police said.

Officers searched the Newport Corporate Plaza business complex, where Alcaraz had been seen an hour or two before police were called. Shortly after 1:30 a.m., police found Alcaraz dead inside the brick-sheathed building at 5030 Campus Drive.

It is not clear how Alcaraz died. Coroner’s officials have not yet released the results of her autopsy.

It is not known why Alcaraz was in the business complex, which is between Teller and Von Karman avenues in an industrial area that is relatively quiet at night, said Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.

Manzella confirmed that Alcaraz worked as an escort, though she did not elaborate.

“That could have been why she was there,” Manzella said.

Hernandez is a janitor who had access to the building in his usual duties, Manzella said. It is unclear whether he and Alcaraz had met before.

The case is still under investigation, police said.

Hernandez is being held at Orange County Jail in Santa Ana with bail set at $1,016,500.