Photo: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
A former preschool teacher was arrested for murder while her students were taking their naps.
Diana Ornelas, 22, was among two suspects detained in relation to the death of Oliver Waterfall, whose body was found along a highway in Santa Cruz County, California, on April 11, the Stanford Daily reports. Dennis Novoa, 27, was identified as the other suspect charged in the murder of Waterfall.
Ornelas, who was working at the Children's Center of the Stanford Community at the time, was arrested on Stanford University's campus last week.
“The arrest happened at naptime, and outside of the perimeter of the CCSC campus. Children were not present when this occurred, and it did not disrupt operations,” CCSC assistant director Rachel Lim and Janet Zamudio said in a message notifying parents of Ornelas' arrest, which was obtained by the Stanford Daily. “We are all shocked and distressed by this news because CCSC is a place and community that means so much to all of us."
Stanford University spokesperson Luisa Rapport said Ornelas was employed by CCSC at the time of her arrest, but confirmed that she "is no longer employed there" and that the incident "did not have a connection to the campus community" in an email to the Stanford Daily last Friday (April 28). Ornelas was detained by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office "with assistance" from the Stanford University Department of Public Safety and initially held on a $1 million bail, though a judge later granted a no-bail order.
The Sheriff's Department believes Waterfall may have been friends with Ornelas and Novoa prior to his death, which an autopsy determined was caused by a gunshot wound. The two suspects are expected to be arraigned on May 17, according to the Stanford Daily.
CCSC is a non-profit facility that provides childcare to Stanford students, staff and faculty and serves more than 200 children, according to its website.