This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Joseph Monge. Monge is one of three suspects arrested in a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles in 1993, taking the lives of 12 people including the deaths of late-term fetuses. Police Chief Charlie Beck says two men were arrested Feb. 3, 2017, and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two middle-aged gang members and a woman accused of setting a deadly Los Angeles fire 24 years ago to get even with an apartment manager who tried to shut down drug dealing were charged Tuesday with a dozen counts of murder.
Ramiro Valerio, 43, of Palmdale, Joseph Monge, 41, of Montebello, and Johanna Lopez, 51, each pleaded not guilty to charges that could bring the death penalty, Los Angeles prosecutors said.
The May 3, 1993 fire was set as revenge after a new apartment manager tried to stop rampant drug dealing in the building filled with poor immigrants, authorities said.
The fire blaze killed seven children and three women, including two pregnant women. The trio was charged with two counts of murder for the two late-term fetus deaths, prosecutors said.
The three were held without bail following their arraignments Tuesday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys who could comment on the allegations.
Someone set a mattress ablaze in a hallway, causing fire and smoke to spread throughout the building as the manager was moving into a second-floor unit of the three-story, 40-unit building in the Westlake neighborhood.
The residents, nearly all of them from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, tried to escape by jumping from windows and climbing down bed sheets tied to balconies. Neighbors formed a human chain to pass down children from upper floors. Other children were dropped from balconies into waiting hands.
Lopez had been arrested in 2011 in connection with the deadly blaze and was awaiting trial, according to court records. Valerio and Monge were arrested by Los Angeles police detectives on Feb. 3.
In 2013, the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division began a fresh examination of the case and began re-contacting witnesses. Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said residents of the apartment building had initially refused to cooperate with police after the fire, fearing retaliation from gang members, but some have now agreed to testify to testify in the case.
Two men were charged in the 1990s, but the cases were eventually dropped for a lack of evidence.
Prosecutors have not said if they will pursue capital punishment in the case.
Police said a fourth person was being sought, but no information about him was released because he fled the country.
Prosecutors said the 10 people killed included: 24-year-old Olga Leon and her three children, ages 4 to 7; 29-year-old Alejandrina Roblero and her three young children who were between 6 and 11; 21-year-old Rosalia Ruiz; and a one-year-old child, Lancy Mateo.
Leon and Ruiz were pregnant when they died.
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This story has been corrected to show the fire was in May, not March, of 1993.
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This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Johanna Lopez. Lopez is one of three suspects arrested in a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles in 1993, taking the lives of 12 people including the deaths of late-term fetuses. Police Chief Charlie Beck says two men were arrested Feb. 3, 2017; Lopez was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
This undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Ramiro Valerio. Valerio is one of three suspects arrested in a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles in 1993, taking the lives of 12 people including the deaths of late-term fetuses. Police Chief Charlie Beck says two men were arrested Feb. 3, 2017, and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
This May 1993 photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, on display at a news conference, shows investigators at the scene of a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles. Police Chief Charlie Beck said Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, that two men were arrested Feb. 3, and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
This May 1993 photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, on display at a news conference, shows investigators at the scene of a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles. Police Chief Charlie Beck said Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, that two men were arrested Feb. 3, and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
In this May 1993 photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, on display at a news conference, investigators attend the scene of a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in the Westlake district of Los Angeles, taking the lives of 12 people including the deaths of late-term fetuses. Police Chief Charlie Beck said Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, that two men were arrested Feb. 3 and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. One suspect was still being sought. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press
Los Angeles police Sgt. Jack Richter displays photos of arson suspects from a 1993 fire prior to a news conference in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Los Angeles police say three people are in custody and a fourth is being sought in connection with a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in 1993. Two men were arrested Feb. 3 and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. Police will ask the district attorney to file homicide charges with special circumstances involving multiple victims, gang affiliations and arson. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The Associated Press
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck talks during a news conference in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Los Angeles police say three people are in custody and a fourth is being sought in connection with a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in 1993. Beck says two men were arrested Feb. 3 and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. Police will ask the district attorney to file homicide charges with special circumstances involving multiple victims, gang affiliations and arson. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The Associated Press
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, left, talks while Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck looks on during a news conference in Los Angeles, Monday, Feb. 6, 2017. Los Angeles police say three people are in custody and a fourth is being sought in connection with a deadly fire that struck an apartment building in 1993. Two men were arrested Feb. 3 and a woman was already in custody in connection with the fire. Police will ask the district attorney to file homicide charges with special circumstances involving multiple victims, gang affiliations and arson. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this May 3, 1993, file photo, a survivor of an apartment complex fire is wheeled to an ambulance by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel near downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck will announce details of arrests made in connection with the 1993 fire that killed 10 people, including seven children. Officials said that several arrests were made recently and the people remain jailed. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac,File)
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FILE - In this May 3, 1993, file photo, May Isabela Diego holds her infant son Pedro in the aftermath of a fire in an apartment complex in the Westlake section of Los Angeles. Diego had to drop her two children out of a window as fire threatened their safety. Police have arrested several people for the 1993 fire that killed 10 people, including seven children. (AP Photo/Michael Tweed, File)
The Associated Press
FILE- In this May 3, 1993 file photo, a young man weeps after seeing a dead child in front of an apartment house in the Westlake district that was devastated by fire in Los Angeles. Police have arrested several people for the 1993 apartment building fire that killed 10 people, including seven children, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. ( J.Albert Diaz/Los Angeles Times via AP)
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Johanna Lopez, 51, center, appears in Los Angeles Superior Court to face charges of murder in a 1993 arson fire that killed 12 people, including late-term fetuses, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. Lopez is one of three alleged gang members who prosecutors say set the fire to retaliate against a building manager's attempt to quell drug sales in the building. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
The Associated Press
Joseph Monge, 41, appears in Los Angeles Superior Court to face charges of murder in a 1993 arson fire that killed 12 people, including late-term fetuses, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. Monge is one of three alleged gang members who prosecutors say set the fire to retaliate against a building manager's attempt to quell drug sales in the building. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
The Associated Press
Ramiro Valerio, 43, appears in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, in Los Angeles to face charges of murder in a 1993 arson fire that killed 12 people, including late-term fetuses. Valerio is one of three alleged gang members who prosecutors say set the fire to retaliate against a building manager's attempt to quell drug sales in the building. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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