Gruesome details have been revealed about the murder of Tatum Goodwin, a restaurant manager found beaten to death in California on Sunday.
The battered body of 27-year-old Goodwin was discovered by a construction worker near Carmelita’s restaurant where she worked. Investigators now believed the murder weapon was a fire extinguisher.
Prosecutors said her body was found “under a fence at a construction site and a sandbag was placed on her head,” police said. KTL.
It comes after bartender Dino Rojas-Moreno, 26, was charged with murder on Wednesday, allegedly attacking Goodwin while she was out for a night before dragging her to an alley where he killed her with the fire extinguisher, officials said.
Tatum Goodwin, 27, was found dead Sunday morning after a night out in Laguna Beach, California, with police claiming she had been bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher
Bartender Dino Rojas-Moreno, 26, was charged Wednesday with Goodwin’s murder
Tatum’s final evening began and ended just yards from her restaurant workplace on Broadway Street in the upscale Orange County resort town
Rojas-Moreno worked according to the Orange County Register.
Although they were only minutes apart, investigators have yet to determine if the two met.
Goodwin had been out for a night with friends after leaving work on Saturday evening, meeting friends at Hennessey’s Tavern and later at the Marine Room.
A filing released Friday alleged that Rojas-Moreno approached Goodwin in a parking lot around 1 a.m. and assaulted her near her car.
The bartender “then forcibly dragged her to the back of the parking lot, down a short alley and into a secluded area behind a movie theater that was under construction,” prosecutors said.
Investigators allege he grabbed a fire extinguisher in the alley and beat the 27-year-old to death.
Rojas-Moreno didn’t show up for work the next day, and prosecutors say he claimed he was “jumped” by two men in Santa Ana.
The restaurant manager was allegedly attacked by Rojas-Moreno in a parking lot around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning after enjoying a night out in Laguna Beach, California.
Her body was found in a parking lot around the corner from the bar where she had been drinking
He is being held without bond as District Attorney Todd Spitzer condemned the impact his alleged crime has had on the community.
“The loss of an innocent life is a mockery to the entire community,” Spitzer said.
“It is heartbreaking that a young woman, with her entire future ahead of her, had her life ended so brutally and then thrown away as if her life never mattered.
“She mattered, and the Orange County District Attorney is committed to ensuring that justice is served.”
Rojas-Moreno is local to the area. After graduating from Mission Viejo High School, he became a bartender and worked at trendy restaurants including Blossoms & Brass in Costa Mesa.
On LinkedIn, Rojas-Moreno described herself as “a detail-oriented professional who is consistently praised as hardworking by my colleagues and management.”
Tributes have been paid to Goodwin, who was described as ‘a loving, honest person’
The district attorney’s office has vowed to bring her death to justice as the Laguna Beach community mourns her loss
Tributes have been paid to Goodwin following her death, as hundreds of people descended on San Clemente Pier on Wednesday evening to honor Goodwin, who was described as kind and generous by people who knew her.
“Her light shone so brightly that it impacted so many different people,” Goodwin’s sister Kaylee said.
Kaylee posted on Facebook after the event, thanking those in attendance and adding that the experience was not easy for her.
“We go through so many emotions and get such important news while we were there. I was frozen in emotions. And so much anger and pain,” she wrote.
“And if I didn’t see you while I was there, I’m sorry. I don’t know, I felt frozen in time. And as if I wasn’t really there.’
Madison Moyer, Goodwin’s best friend, was among those who attended the candlelight vigil.
She described the slain 27-year-old as her “soulmate, best friend, other half” and “the person who brought me peace when I couldn’t find it myself.”
“She was such a loving, honest person,” her friend Aleena Macintosh added. “You wouldn’t think anything would happen to her.”
‘I can’t even think right now. To think that this happened across the street from my work and to someone we all loved so much.
“This world is too cruel for those who don’t deserve it.”