Boyfriend with domestic violence history charged with Fresno mother's murder

A mother beaten to death for Fresno's first murder of 2019 and now police have arrested a man who's committed a similar crime before.

Investigators arrested the boyfriend at the hospital, but they didn't charge him with murder for six days.

Torn yellow tape announces this east central Fresno apartment as a recent crime scene.

Neighbors say the couple who lived inside fought all the time.

One of them told me he heard a loud thud hours before police showed up to launch an investigation.

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"Our officers received a call at CRMC regarding a 32-year-old victim who had been beaten severely. Yanina Olivarez died about 15 hours after she arrived at Community Regional Medical Center," said Pat Farmer, the deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department.

Police aren't saying exactly what injuries she suffered.

"She did have significant trauma to her body and I can't give you a lot of details on that, but the injuries were significant to say the least," Farmer said.

Officers arrested her boyfriend, Brandon Moreno, at the hospital, but not for murder.

They booked him on a probation violation while they unraveled the story Moreno told investigators.

The 31-year-old has a felony strike from a 2017 robbery, as well as a 2013 domestic violence conviction.

The victim in that case was a different woman, but Yanina's friends and family members say they suspected the relationship was toxic.

"They got into an argument (and) he left for a whole month, she would call me crying, 'I don't know why he's not answering,'" said longtime friend Erika Mendoza. "I told her 'You need to leave that relationship. It's not healthy.'"

But Olivarez worked hard at everything she did.

Friends say she worked two jobs -- including as a substitute teacher in a special services classroom.

They say she adored her 7-year-old son, but she was kind and sweet to everyone she met.

One friend told me she was an amazing person in a messed up situation.

Prosecutors charged Moreno with her murder and domestic violence six days after his initial arrest.

He made his first court appearance Monday.

If he's convicted, he'd face life in prison.