On August 9, 2014, the body of 23-year-old Hispanic female Abigail Torres-Renteria was discovered on farmland off Nine Canyon Road, south of Kennewick, Washington. Torres-Renteria, who was nearly nine months pregnant at the time of her death, was found alongside two other victims, 19-year-old Victoria Torres and 22-year-old David Perez-Saucedo. All three victims, residents of Pasco, had been fatally shot.
A farmworker discovered the bodies at approximately 5:30 a.m.
The investigation into the triple homicide quickly led law enforcement to a person of interest, Francisco J. Resendez Miranda, a 23-year-old from Umatilla, Oregon. Resendez Miranda was arrested on August 10, 2014, in Oregon on charges initially unrelated to the murders. Investigators believe the killings may have been in retaliation for a break-in at Resendez Miranda's apartment the night before the bodies were found. It is reported that Torres-Renteria, Perez-Saucedo, and Victoria Torres had traveled to Umatilla late on August 8, 2014. Resendez Miranda worked with one of the victims, David Perez-Saucedo, at a farm in Paterson.
Francisco J. Resendez Miranda was subsequently charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder. An aggravating circumstance in the charges was that Abigail Torres-Renteria was almost nine months pregnant. In January 2015, Resendez Miranda was extradited to Benton County, Washington, where he pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors later announced they would not seek the death penalty, meaning a conviction would result in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. During the trial, a forensic pathologist testified that Torres-Renteria died from a gunshot wound that went through her jaw and neck area.
While Francisco J. Resendez Miranda was the primary suspect charged in the murders, authorities also sought his father, Fidel Miranda-Huitron, and two brothers, Eduardo Miranda-Resendiz and Fernando de Jesus Miranda-Resendiz, for questioning. It was believed that the three family members may have fled to Mexico following the shootings. The investigation and subsequent trial brought some measure of justice for the families of the victims, though the loss of three lives, including that of an unborn child, left a lasting impact on the community.
