An Arkansas man who was arrested on a murder charge in the October killing of a Homer woman was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month, and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment.
Arturo Mondragon-Lopez Jr. was charged with second-degree murder in Homer after he called 911 and reported that he had shot his girlfriend, 22-year-old Brianna Hetrick, according to an affidavit written by Homer Police Sgt. Jessica Poling and included with charging documents. Mondragon-Lopez was arrested outside of a Homer residence, and Hetrick was found dead inside.
Earlier this month, a Kenai grand jury passed down an indictment charging Mondragon-Lopez with the second-degree murder as initially charged, but also manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Those charges, according to the indictment, allege that Mondragon-Lopez “knowingly engaged in conduct that resulted in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” that he “recklessly caused the death of another person,” and that he “with criminal negligence, caused the death of another person.”
The indictment was delivered on Nov. 8. According to log notes from an arraignment hearing in Kenai on Nov. 14, Mondragon-Lopez submitted a not guilty plea. A trial is scheduled to begin in January at the Homer Courthouse.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
