A twenty-seven-year-old woman named Tatum Goodwin was discovered brutally murdered in the seemingly peaceful, charming, small town of Laguna Beach. Her unfortunate death was a shock to all, as there have been very few Laguna Beach murders in the past. Regardless, this terrible tragedy arose in the early hours of November 12, 2023. Goodwin was discovered by a construction worker in an alleyway behind the old movie theater on the 200 block of Ocean Avenue at 8:20 am. Police at the scene state to have seen her body left there with a sandbag lying over her head.
Just recently, three days after the homicide investigation had been started, police placed suspicion on a twenty-six-year-old bartender from Laguna Hills named Dino Rojas-Moreno. He was taken into custody on November 15 and charged with Goodwin’s murder. A statement released on that Friday by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office claims “Rojas-Moreno is accused of approaching Goodwin in a nearby parking lot around 1 a.m. that morning and assaulting her near her parked car. Rojas-Moreno then forcefully dragged her to the rear of the parking lot, down a short alley, and to a secluded area behind a movie theatre that was under construction. Rojas-Moreno is then accused of beating Goodwin to death with a fire extinguisher. Goodwin was found several hours later.”
To find out this information horrified our community. To be killed in such a way is inhumane, and Tatum Goodwin deserves justice for what happened to her. Hopefully, the police have indeed found Rojas-Moreno guilty and he serves his deserved time. Another chilling detail of her passing is that there is no evidence as to whether they had known each other or had any sort of relationship. A suspicious piece of the case is that apparently on the day of her murder, Rojas-Moreno called in sick to work because he claimed he had “been jumped by several men in Santa Ana.” This makes him even more of a suspect, as there has been no known evidence proven to his statement.
Our community is tremendously saddened by her loss. As of right now, we don’t know if Dino Rojas-Moreno is guilty or not, but we must believe in innocent until proven guilty. He has pleaded not guilty, but the court will decide what to do hopefully soon. Tatum Goodwin had a full life ahead of her, a future, that was abruptly cut short at the young age of twenty-seven years old. She deserves justice, and now we just have to wait to find out what happens to her legacy.
