Officials were called after the 69-year-old woman was discovered by her caretaker at about 1.30 p.m. in the 4000 block of Buckingham Road at a senior apartment complex, triggering a response from the Los Angeles Fire Department and homicide detectives, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Tony Im said, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, with multiple stab wounds, police said. The LAPD didn’t release any information on a suspect.
Anyone who might have information about the crime was asked to call 877-LAPD-247.
Newsweek has contacted the LAPD for comment.
That wasn’t the only homicide in Los Angeles this week. On Wednesday, a suspect was arrested after fatally stabbing another man at the San Vincente homeless encampment in Brentwood, Fox11 Los Angeles reported.
Police responded to an incident on the 116000 block of San Vincente Boulevard at around 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday. The victim, who was a Marine veteran, was transported to a local hospital and there he was pronounced dead, police said.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had been involved in a dispute with the victim’s girlfriend when the victim intervened and was stabbed, police officials said.
The girlfriend wasn’t injured in the confrontation. The suspect was detained at the scene by police and later taken to a hospital for medical clearance so he could be booked into jail, police said.
Murders Increasing in the State
Murders in Los Angeles have been on the rise, with last year being particularly deadly. In 2020, the city saw 349 homicides, according to LAPD statistics, up by nearly 100 from 2019, where there were 253.
July was the city’s deadliest month in more than a decade, with 48 homicides for that month and more than double the 20 murders that happened in April, according to LAPD data.
A report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice released in June said that the COVID pandemic likely contributed to California’s high homicide rate last year and increases in killings reported across the U.S.
That same paper found that overall urban crime rates in California declined by 7 percent, despite a 34 percent increase in homicide. Robbery in California declined by 15 percent between 2019 and 2020, while property crime fell by 9 percent. Burglary stayed roughly the same, while the theft of vehicles rose by 10 percent during that time period.
