AIRPORT COURTHOUSE — A Thousand Oaks woman was charged Monday with murder in the death of Juliana Redding, an aspiring fashion model and actress from Arizona who was killed in her Santa Monica apartment in 2008.
Kelly Soo Park, 44, appeared at the Airport Courthouse Monday afternoon, but her arraignment was postponed until June 28, at which time Park is expected to enter a plea, police said. Park faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She is being held in lieu of a $1 million bail.
Prosecutors dismissed a special circumstance of lying in wait against Park but have the option of adding it at a later date, police said.
Park was arrested Thursday in Camarillo along with 34-year-old Ronnie Wayne Case, a race car driver in the Ventura Racing Association who goes by the name “The Rocket.” Pending further investigation, prosecutors declined to immediately charge Case in connection with the killing and he was released.
Redding, 21, was described as a Hollywood hopeful from Tucson, Ariz., who was found dead on March 16, 2008, in her rented condominium on Centinela Avenue near Broadway.
Redding attended the prestigious Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, where she played on the golf team and ran track. She moved from Arizona and had a role in a small 2005 movie (“Kathy T Gives Good Hoover”), and was featured in a photo layout in Maxim magazine, winning one of the magazine’s “Hometown Hottie” contests.
Redding, who took several courses at Santa Monica College, was found dead after her mother called police when she could not reach her daughter.
Case frequented the Ventura County Raceway, while Park worked for a business that sponsored his car, the Ventura County Star reported. Officers said Case and Park were roommates and may have been romantically involved.
Court records show Case was charged with several felonies, including forcible rape, sodomy by use of force, unlawful sexual intercourse and misdemeanor sexual battery stemming from an alleged encounter with a 17-year-old girl at his home in 2006. The charges were dropped in April.
Santa Monica police said there could be more arrests in the case.
Police in Oxnard and Torrance, and major crimes units in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, worked on the case with the assistance of the FBI, police said.
Santa Monica police asked anyone with information, or who has had any relationship with either suspect, to call Lt. Mike Beautz at (310) 458-8488.
kevinh@www.smdp.com
