Calif. Man Allegedly Used 'Shards of Glass' to Kill Girlfriend in Hotel Room, Prosecutors Say

Uriel Gamboa reported to authorities that he had killed his girlfriend Aliya Pitts on Monday, Jan. 6

Charna Flam
·2-min read
Getty Stock Photo Stock photo of police cars and tape

Getty Stock Photo

Stock photo of police cars and tape

A man was charged with murdering his girlfriend in Ventura County, Calif., according to a Ventura County District Attorney’s Office news release on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

On Monday, Jan. 6, at 10:45 p.m., Uriel Gamboa, 31, called authorities and told them he killed his girlfriend Aliya Pitts, 24, inside their room at the Palm Garden Hotel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., per the Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO). The VCSO deputies arrived at the scene just before 11:00 p.m. and discovered Pitts's body in the room.

Pitt’s cause of death was revealed as sharp and blunt force injuries with probable strangulation, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner, The Ventura County Star reported. Prosecutors allege in their complaint that Pitt was killed by a "broken bottle/shards of glass," per the County Star.

Related: North Carolina Man Accused of Stabbing Girlfriend, Pouring Gasoline on Her and Lighting Home on Fire

ADVERTISEMENT

“Gamboa sustained self-inflicted injuries,” per the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office's latest press release. He allegedly told authorities he was “feeling suicidal,” per the VCSO new release.

Once in police custody, Gamboa was taken to a local hospital. He was then discharged on Friday, Jan. 10, and then was arrested for murder. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Gamboa was also charged with use of a deadly weapon, crime being committed with great bodily injury and crime involving great violence.

Gamboa remains in custody without bail, and an arraignment is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, at Ventura County Superior Court.

Getty Stock image of police car lights

Getty

Stock image of police car lights

Related: Minn. Man Tried to Stab Girlfriend During Domestic Abuse Incident, But Missed & Killed Her Son, 13, Instead

The motive of the murder is under investigation. “The investigation shows this to be an isolated incident, with no outstanding threat to the public,” per VCSO news release.

ADVERTISEMENT

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Christopher Vorzimer at 805-384-4731 or Detective Nicole Grover at 805-384-4722.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

Read the original article on People

Latest stories

  • Six-year-old girl and father found dead after she failed to turn up for school

    The bodies of a six-year-old girl and her father were discovered after she failed to turn up for school, police have revealed.

  • Pregnant Woman Set to Give Birth Was Beheaded Weeks Before Due Date, Ex Sentenced for Murder

    Liese Dodd's killer was sentenced to 60 years in prison last week

  • The smiling thug who carried out sickening actions on Tenerife holiday

    Roy Croft subjected his girlfriend to a sickening campaign of abuse

  • Killer who carved swastikas on victim freed from prison despite appeals from Justice Secretary

    A sadistic killer who carved swastikas on his victim’s body has been released from prison despite opposition from the Justice Secretary and the mother of the dead woman.

  • UK child killer ordered out of stabbing spree sentencing

    A UK teenager who murdered three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the country's worst riots in over a decade was Thursday ordered out of court by a judge for disrupting the start of his sentencing.After arriving in court Axel Rudakubana, 18, turned to a dock officer and said, "I'm not fine, I feel ill", urging the judge "don't continue"."I need to speak to a paramedic, I feel ill," he shouted repeatedly."You're not giving me any support, judge, I feel ill," he said, adding he had not eaten for 10 days.Minutes earlier, various media reported that he had been taken to hospital in the early hours, although this was not confirmed, and the judge told the court he had been assured Rudakubana was fine to attend.Rudakubana pleaded guilty on Monday to the killings at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, northwest England.As the hearing got under way, the court was told he had said "I'm glad they're dead" as he was held in a custody suite after killing the three girls last July.Rudakubana has also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted murder and possessing a blade.And he admitted producing a biological toxin -- ricin -- and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual.Judge Julian Goose warned Rudakubana after his guilty pleas that he faced a long custodial sentence.Rudakubana's multiple appearances in court to date have been marked by his uncooperative behaviour, repeatedly refusing to speak and declining to stand in court on Monday, where he muttered "guilty" to each of the charges.The teenager's rampage shocked people in the UK.Viral misinformation that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker triggered anti-immigrant riots in more than a dozen English and Northern Irish towns and cities. Rudakubana was in fact born in Cardiff to parents of Rwandan origin, and lived in Banks, a village northeast of Southport.His Christian church-going parents, both ethnic Tutsis, came to Britain in the years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, according to UK media. The attack has not been treated as a terror incident and he was never charged with terrorism offences -- prompting criticism from some.Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Tuesday to update terror legislation "if the law needs to change", to recognise what he called the new threat of individuals intent on "extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake".Meanwhile, interior minister Yvette Cooper announced a public inquiry would probe how police, courts and welfare services "failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed".- Failures -Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed in the attack in the seaside resort near Liverpool on July 29, 2024.Ten others were wounded, including eight children, in one of the country's worst mass stabbings in decades."This is a tragedy from which the families involved will never recover," Andrew Brown, the founder of the Stand Up for Southport community group, told AFP. "That this atrocity could have been prevented on several occasions but those opportunities were never taken, is devastating," he said.The unrest linked to the killings lasted nearly a week.Rioters attacked police, shops and hotels housing asylum seekers as well as mosques. Hundreds were arrested and charged at the time and over the subsequent months.Authorities blamed far-right agitators for fuelling the violence, including by sharing misinformation about the attacker.Following the guilty pleas and the lifting of court reporting restrictions, new information has emerged about Rudakubana.He had been referred three times to the government's nationwide anti-extremism scheme, Prevent, over concerns about his obsession with violence.He had also been excluded from school, with reports suggesting that when he was 13 he was bullied and had started carrying a knife.Reports said authorities had long known of his interest in atrocities and mass murders after he was found doing research on a school computer.Starmer branded the apparent decision that Rudakubana did not meet the threshold for intervention by Prevent as "clearly wrong".bur-har/jkb/phz

  • CNN Legal Analyst Stunned By ‘Extraordinary’ Donald Trump Move That’s ‘Sent Shock Waves'

    Former prosecutor Elie Honig described it as "very heavy-handed."

  • Trump pardons DC officers convicted in death and cover up

    President Donald Trump has issued a “full and unconditional pardon” to Washington, DC, police lieutenant Andrew Zabavsky and officer Terence Sutton for their roles in the death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown, a case that drew protests on the heels of the murder of George Floyd.

  • Man stabbed four people ‘like a serial killer’ in attack at Argos warehouse

    A balaclava-clad man went on a knife rampage stabbing four people “like a serial killer” in a daytime attack at an Argos warehouse in south London.

  • Proceeds of crime unit ‘behind ban on Sturgeon’s husband selling home’

    A proceeds of crime unit is behind a ban on Nicola Sturgeon’s husband selling their home, it has been reported.

  • Luxury watch salesman killed himself after ‘not putting up enough of a fight’ during £1.3m robbery

    A luxury watch salesman took his own life after he was accused of “not putting up enough of a fight” with robbers who grabbed £1.3 million worth of jewellery from his shop, a court heard.

  • The former soldier turned crossbow killer whose brother is serving life for murder

    Kyle Clifford is a former soldier in the British Army with an older brother serving life in prison for murdering a moped rider who had damaged his car.

  • Woman Vanished on a Hike with Mom and Was Later Found Slain in Woods. 4 Years Later, Suspect Is Arrested

    Dakota Petrey is charged with the 2020 murder of Vanessa Ceja-Ramirez

  • Two men jailed after trying to smuggle pistol through Stansted Airport

    A pair has been jailed for trying to smuggle a pistol through an Essex airport from Florida.

  • Mum who killed partner in high-speed horror crash breaks down in tears as she avoids jail term

    “The death of Tom Benson demonstrates, clearly, that no man is an island"

  • Axel Rudakubana jailed for 52 years - Southport attack sentencing, as it happened

    Rudakubana will likely spend the rest of his life in jail after murdering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9.

  • Jail sentences for pair after TV antique expert’s Chelsea jewellery store robbed

    James Dixon, 43, and Thomas Loring, 41, were jailed over a ‘campaign of burglaries in the Greater London area’, Kingston Crown Court was told.

  • Trump Revokes Workplace Discrimination Rules Enacted By LBJ In 1965

    The new president just unwound a landmark anti-discrimination measure implemented amid the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

  • OPINION - Prince Harry's stunning victory has humiliated The Sun and exposed a fatal flaw in Britain's justice system

    Prince Harry is a Marmite figure. For some he is a hero, the scourge of tabloids and positive voice on mental health. For others, he is to be derided as either a tragic Prince or the Royal who deserted his family.

  • ‘You’re a coward’: Inside the courtroom where grieving families refused to be overcome by killer’s antics

    Rudakubana, 18, was not in court as his victim’s spoke of their anguish after he started shouting from the dock

  • Death of six-year-old girl being treated as murder, police confirm

    THE death of a six-year-old schoolgirl in West Lothian is being treated as murder, police have said ...