SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - Prosecutors plan to announce charges in the killing of a University of Pennsylvania student found buried in a Southern California park.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckus has scheduled a news conference Wednesday morning to announce his decision on charges for 20-year-old Samuel Woodward, suspected of killing 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein.
Authorities say Bernstein was visiting his parents on winter break when he went to a park with Woodward Jan. 2. His stabbed body was found in a shallow grave there a week later. Woodward was arrested soon after.
In an affidavit obtained by the Orange County Register, Woodward told investigators he was angry after Bernstein kissed him the night they went to the park.
Bernstein's parents say the killing may have been a hate crime against their gay son.
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(Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP, file). FILE--This undated file photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Department shows Blaze Bernstein. A suspect has been arrested in the death of 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Bernst...
(AP Photo/Amy Taxin, file). FILE--In this Jan. 10, 2018, file photo, Gideon and Jeanne Bernstein, parents of missing teen Blaze Bernstein, pictured at left, are joined by Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Brad Valentine, right, during a news conference in La...