Efren Medina was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of Carle Hodge
According to court documents Efren Medina and Ernest Aro would attack seventy one year old Carle Hodge who was beaten by Medina before Aro would run him over with a vehicle causing his death
Efren Medina would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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ASPC-E Rynning D/Row
EFREN MEDINA 121384
PO Box 3400
Florence, AZ 85132
United States
Efren Medina Case
Just after midnight on September 30, 1993, Frazier Giles got out of bed to open a window. In the parking lot across the street, he saw a person sitting in his neighbor’s car with the door open and the headlights on. Giles noticed what he thought was a “pile of rags” beside the car. A few minutes later he heard someone say, “Please don’t hit me. Don’t hit me. Don’t. Don’t.” Giles returned to the window and saw a second car drive up and stop next to his neighbor’s vehicle. The driver spoke to the person in the parked car for a few minutes before leaving.
¶ 4 The person in the parked car turned off the headlights, got out of the car, stomped on the “pile of rags,” and then dragged the pile into the street. At that point, Giles realized that the “pile of rags” was a person. The second car returned and the person who had dragged the body got inside. The car sped away, but then came “racing back” and ran over the body with both the front and back wheels. Giles left the window to call the police.
¶ 5 Medina’s girlfriend, Angela Calderon, testified that about two hours later, she and a friend were sitting in her front yard when three men arrived in Medina’s car. Medina got out of the driver’s side and Ernest Aro stepped out from the passenger side. Kevin Martinez remained in the backseat. Medina and Aro appeared intoxicated and were “laughing and giggling.” Calderon asked why they were laughing, and Medina told her to “watch the news” for a “speed bump” or “tire markings.” Medina also simulated driving over a speed bump and made “varoom, bump, bump” noises.
¶ 6 Medina met Calderon at a friend’s house later that morning, where he told her that “he was scared, because they had done something wrong.” Medina said that he and his friends had been riding in the car when they decided to steal another car. Medina admitted pulling the car’s occupant out of the vehicle and hitting and kicking him. Martinez and Medina attempted to hot-wire the car and steal the radio but were unsuccessful. Medina then pulled the man into the street.
¶ 7 Medina also told Calderon that Aro had driven off, assuming that Medina and Martinez would follow in the stolen vehicle, but when they did not, Aro returned to pick them up. Medina got in the driver’s seat after telling Aro to scoot over. Medina drove off, then came back and ran over the victim three times, going forward over him, then reversing over him and going forward again.
¶ 8 Other evidence linked Efren Medina to the murder. At the scene, investigators found a plastic bag wet with gold paint and tire marks in gold paint showing that Medina’s car had traveled both eastbound and westbound. Medina’s fingerprints were found in the victim’s car, and it appeared that someone had tried to remove the radio.
¶ 9 The police searched Medina’s car and found the victim’s watch, hair, blood, tissue, and clothing fragments in the undercarriage, as well as spatters of gold paint. In Medina’s bedroom, the police found another plastic bag filled with gold paint.