Nearly two years since her death, a California man pleaded not guilty on Dec. 21 to the murder of Windham native Hannah Montessori.
On the night of Jan. 19, 2004, Montessori, 15, died of head trauma after she was discovered unconscious and bleeding in a residential neighborhood in Santa Ana, California.
Police believe Jonathan Tran, 20, of nearby Garden Grove, picked up Montessori with the intent to sexual assault her and later tossed her out of his truck on North Morse Street. A witness reportedly heard a “thud” and saw a truck leaving the neighborhood before discovering Montessori. Police refuse to speculate whether the blunt-force trauma that killed Montessori was caused by Tran or by her fall from the vehicle.
Montessori’s identity remained unknown for three months until she was identified through the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Montessori, a descendant of famous educator Maria Montessori, grew up with her father and mother in Windham before her parents divorced. Montessori had been living with her mother in Georgia and later on in a group home from which she ran away in 2003.
Tran, a car salesman, had been a suspect in Montessori’s death since the beginning of the investigation, said Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo of the Santa Ana Police Department. Police believe Tran targeted young prostitutes on the corner of Harbor and 5th Street in Santa Ana. They also suspect that young Montessori may have also been working as a prostitute.
Tran was arrested on unrelated rape charges last month and later charged in Montessori’s death. Tran faces one count of murder, two counts of rape and one count of “oral copulation under the color of authority.”
Tran allegedly raped and robbed a 17-year-old girl at gunpoint in December, 2003. Tran is accused of committing a near identical crime – days before Montessori’s death – against an 18-year-old female. This past September, Tran, while pretending to be a police officer, forced a 16-year-old girl to engage in oral sex with him under threat of arrest.
Tran is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 10. If convicted, he faces a sentence of 55 years to life in jail.
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