Suspect in model’s overdose death held on $3.4 million bond for unrelated sexual assault allegations
A California man accused of playing a role in the deaths of an aspiring model and her architect friend made an appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom, where a judge ordered he remain behind bars on $3.4 million bond for an unrelated series of alleged sexual assaults dating back to 2010.
David Pearce, a 39-year-old promoter and wannabe film producer, was arrested along with two others for the overdose deaths of 26-year-old designer Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola and her friend, 24-year-old Christy Giles. Both women were found unresponsive outside of two different hospitals on Nov. 13 after a night of partying in the Los Angeles area.
Giles was pronounced dead outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City the same morning. Cabrales-Arzola was found unresponsive outside Kaiser Permanente Hospital in West L.A., about two miles away. She died on Nov. 24, less than a week before her 27th birthday.
On Dec. 15, Pearce was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the case. Just two days later, he was charged with two counts of forcible rape, one count of raping an unconscious or asleep person and one count of sexual penetration for a foreign object.
The unrelated incidents allegedly occurred between 2010 and October 2020, according to a criminal complaint released by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office earlier this week.
During a court appearance on Thursday, Pearce was ordered to return to the Los Angeles courtroom on Jan. 12 to be arraigned on the sexual assault charges.
Prosecutors also requested “further investigation” into the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola, both of who were likely given drugs and overdosed in the hours before they were abandoned, Fox 11 reported.
“That’s currently an ongoing investigation so I can’t say too much about that, but that investigation is absolutely still ongoing,” Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano told reporters outside court.
Two other men, Brandt Osborn, 42, and Michael Ansbach, 47, also were arrested in connection with the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola.
