Jailed Fallbrook Woman in Child Custody Battle Over Infant Daughter

Dorothy Maraglino, Louis Ray Perez and Jessica Lopez have been charged in the 2012 murder of Brittany Killgore in Fallbrook. Maraglino was pregnant at the time she was arrested and subsequently placed her newborn child in the care of Becky Zagha at the request of Perez, the baby’s father. Apparently, Zagha was to reside in San Diego County and bring the baby for weekly visits to the Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee where Maraglino is currently residing (Perez is being housed in the Vista jail). Instead, Zagha moved with the child to Central California and has not been bringing the baby for frequent jail visits. The Fresno County Court earlier this year entered an order establishing Zagha as guardian over the child, Jordyn Lynn Perez.

Most recently, Maraglino has been trying through the Fresno Family Court to terminate the guardianship, remove her daughter from Zagha’s custody, and have the child placed with Maraglino’s sister in South Carolina. This move was denied by the Fresno court on October 21st, and Maraglino is currently appealing that decision.

Authorities believe that Killgore was murdered at a home in Fallbrook where the defendants practiced bondage and sadomasochism. Killgore is not believed to have been a willing participant in such activities, and Maraglino, Perez and Lopez have been charged with kidnapping, attempted sexual battery, torture, conspiracy and murder in the strangling death of Killgore, whose body was found outside of Temecula last April. Maraglino was arrested in May, and her baby was born in July 2012.