Juan Valenzuela, 38 [Updated]

Juan Valenzuela, a 38-year-old Latino, was found dead Wednesday, March 31, in the 300 block of West Cocoa Street in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

[Updated on Oct. 28: An earlier version of this post, based on information from the coroner's office, identified Valenzuela as John Doe No. 51. His age and race were not originally provided. Through a circumstantial identification, coroner's officials have since determined the victim is Juan Valenzuela. He had been strangled prior to being set on fire, said Ed Winter, spokesman for the coroner's office.]

A woman was driving home from work about 3:15 a.m. when she spotted what she thought was a mannequin engulfed in flames, said Lt. Liam Gallagher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

When rescue workers from the Sheriff's Department and the Compton Fire Department arrived, they realized it was a body, Gallagher said. Firefighters put out the fire, and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The body was found on the side of a street just south of Compton High School, near the football stadium. Deputies later set up barriers around the crime scene and redirected students to a different school entrance to prevent them from seeing the body, Gallagher said.

[Updated Nov. 24: Sgt. Michael Rodriguez, who is handling the investigation, said Valenzuela was actually killed in the 1400 block of Denny Street in Wilmington in the early hours of Mar. 31. He had gotten into a disagreement with several family members, who were related by marriage, before he was strangled. Rodriguez declined to disclose what the fight was about.

The alleged assailants have been identified as Luis Gregorio Barba, a 28-year-old Latino, and Rolando Sanchez, a 36-year-old Latino. Authorities say that after they strangled Valenzuela, they placed his body into a truck with the help of Alberto Banuelos, a 24-year-old Latino. The three then dumped his body in Compton and set it on fire.

About a month after the killing, Sanchez contacted the LAPD and  confessed to murdering Valenzuela, Rodriguez said. With Sanchez's help, investigators were able to arrest Barba and Banuelos.

Sanchez and Barba have each been charged with murder and are being held in lieu of $1-million bail, according to court records. Their next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2011, in Long Beach Superior Court. Banuelos has been charged as an accessory to murder, Rodriguez said. He is scheduled to appear at Long Beach Superior Court on Jan. 10, 2011.]

— Kate Linthicum and Sarah Ardalani