A HOLLYWOOD producer who is set to go on trial for the murders of a model and her architect friend “deserves to pay” for the harm he’s inflicted, the grieving dad of the interior designer told The U.S. Sun.
Mexican-born Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, and her friend Christy Giles, 24, were left for dead by two masked men who dumped their bodies outside two Los Angeles hospitals on the evening of November 13, 2021.
Surveillance footage captured the suspects jumping out of a Toyota Prius and leaving an unconscious Giles outside Southern California Hospital at Culver City.
About an hour later, video captured the men leaving Cabrales-Arzola on a sidewalk near Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital.
Giles was declared dead when she was found outside by medical staff outside the hospital.
While Cabrales-Arzola was declared brain dead before being taken off life support two weeks later – a day before her 27th birthday.
Both women had been drugged and had traces of cocaine, fentanyl, ketamine, and other drugs in their system.
David Pearce, the only man charged with the murders of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola, went on trial on Thursday, more than three years since his arrest in December 2021. He has pleaded not guilty.
It’s a different kind of pain to lose a child, especially in that way, so tragic. She was my baby.
Luis Cabrales Rivera, father of Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola
Luis Cabrales Rivera, the father of Cabrales-Arzola, spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun from his home in Mexico about the long-awaited day of justice for his daughter.
“This is all too difficult for me to try to remember till this day,” Rivera told The U.S. Sun in Spanish.
“I know this week is the start of the trial, and the only thing I can tell you is I hope justice is served and this f**ker pays for what he did.
“Like every parent who loses a child, we’re never prepared to lose a child.
“Most of us are prepared to lose a sibling, your grandparents, your own parents, but never a child.
“It’s a different kind of pain to lose a child, especially in that way, so tragic. She was my baby.”
The devastated father raced to Los Angeles from Monterrey, Mexico, the capital of the border northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León, after learning his 26-year-old daughter was in a medically induced coma.
Cabrales-Arzola and Giles had been enjoying a night out at a warehouse rave in East Los Angeles in the early hours of November 13, 2021.
At some point during the party, the pair was separated, and Cabrales-Arzola eventually met Parce.
A photographer at the rave captured a photo of Cabrales-Arzola and Pearce together posing for a picture.
LEFT TO DIE
Surveillance footage from the warehouse showed the women leaving the party with three men, identified as Pearce, his roommate Brandt Osborn, and friend Michael Ansbach.
The group continued the party at Pearce and Osborn’s second-story apartment, arriving at their residence at 5:11 am, according to court documents.
Twenty minutes later, Giles texted her friend, “Let’s go,” adding a wide-eyed emoji, to which Cabrales-Arzola replied, “Yes. I’ll call an Uber. 10 min away.”
However, security video from the apartment complex showed the Uber cab arriving at the building at 5:45 am and leaving five minutes later without the women.
That afternoon, video footage captured Pearce carrying Giles downstairs and placing her in a Toyota Prius, an arrest affidavit read.
Pearce and Osborn drove to Southern California Hospital at Culver City, where they abandoned Giles’ body, claiming to hospital staff they were “good Samaritans” who had found her “passed out on the curb,” according to court documents.
To be honest, it’s very, very difficult to relive all that. If I do, if I think about it, I’ll fall back into depression, being without comfort, reopen wounds.
Luis Cabrales Rivera
About an hour later, the men returned to the apartment, where surveillance footage captured Pearce carrying a “partially clad” Cabrales-Arzola down the stairs.
The roommates dumped Cabrales-Arzola’s body at Kaiser hospital just after 7 pm.
Giles died of a drug overdose, while Cabrales-Arzola died of multiple organ failures and drug intoxication.
Los Angeles detectives visited Pearce and Osborn’s apartment hours after the women were left at area hospitals.
However, Pearce, Osborn, and Ansbach were not arrested until three weeks after Cabrales-Arzola died.
In July 2022, Pearce was charged with two counts of murder and additional charges of controlled substances.
UNBEARABLE PAIN
In the years since his daughter’s murder, Cabrales-Arzola’s father has tried to remain resilient and allow her to rest in peace.
“In reality, we try to rebuild our lives and be strong,” Rivera told The U.S Sun.
“I promised myself to remain strong for her, whether my daughter, my Hildi, is here or not.
“I try not to worry her so much by continuing to mourn her and being sad all the time because if I continue, I’m probably not allowing her to rest in peace.”
Rivera said he can’t gather the strength to be present during the trial and has chosen to remain in Mexico to protect his mental health.
“I, voluntarily, decided to avoid the pain, to avoid reliving the moment and letting it affect my health, I decided not to go,” the grieving father said.
“I’ll be up to date with what happens [at the trial], but I won’t be there physically.
“To be honest, it’s very, very difficult to relive all that.
“If I do, if I think about it, I’ll fall back into depression, being without comfort, reopen wounds.
“The pain of losing a child never heals completely, but now I’ll leave justice up to the court and pray the full might of the law falls on this person and hope he never gets out of jail for everything he did to my daughter and her friend.”
Pearce, who has been held on $3.4 million bond, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.
His roommate, Osborn, a former NCIS actor who was arrested while on a set of the show in 2021, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact.
Osborn has been out on bail after posting $40,000 bond and is being tried alongside Pearce.
During jury selection at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Judge Eleanor Hunter explained to potential jurors that prosecutors will present harrowing details about the women’s deaths.
“I’m sure this is not the way you wanted to start your New York,” Hunter told a pool of potential jurors, stressing how important the case was after the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola.
The U.S. Sun captured exclusive pictures of Osborn seemingly carefree as he grabbed a bite to eat after court on Monday.
Jan Cilliers, the widower of Giles, admitted to The U.S. Sun he will never get over losing his wife.
“I don’t think it’s something one will ever get over losing somebody that close to you, especially in such an awful way,” Cilliers said.
“Three years is a long time to be in limbo. I am just pleased the trial is now starting.”
Cinematographer Michael Ansbach, who was initially arrested alongside the other two suspects, was never charged in the case.
Ansbach cooperated with investigators and will likely testify against Osborn and Pearce, according to CBS News.
