TIJUANA – The killing was shocking, even in a region traumatized by violence.

A four-year-old girl was beaten to death last July, her body tossed on busy boulevard in the city’s east side.

Authorities began a search for her identity – and her killer. She was buried a few days later, but her case was not forgotten.

On Tuesday, the state Attorney General Rommel Moreno announced that the girl’s mother and her stepfather had been arrested and charged with her murder.

He identified them as Jazmín Guadalupe Hernández García, 23 años, and Valentín Gonzalo Salas González, 33.

And he revealed the name of the victim, María José Flores Hernández. Her stepfather is accused of beating the girl, with her mother’s support, he said.

State police agents found the couple after they showed a photograph of the youngster on Jan. 19 in Sinaloa state, where a relative recognized her.

Two days later they arrested the stepfather, who had separated from his wife, in Tijuana.

After the killing the mother had moved to the town of Bamoa, Sinaloa, where police traveled to arrest her.

The couple said the girl had been beaten because she had refused to bathe, Moreno said. After she died, they dumped her body the night of July 19.

Moreno said his office will seek the maximum penalty of 50 years against the couple, who are charged with aggravated murder and child neglect.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com