Authorities in Santa Rosa have found the severed head belonging to a 64-year-old woman who was allegedly killed by her grandson last week, police announced Monday.
Santa Rosa police identified the victim as Santa Rosa resident Elvia Lopez-Arroyo and said her head was found Saturday on the bank of Santa Rosa Creek. The woman's grandson and main suspect in her slaying, 23-year-old Luis Gustavo Aroyo-Lopez, was arrested in San Francisco the same day.
Police initially responded Thursday afternoon to the 2500 block of Pomo Trail in Santa Rosa to investigate a possible homicide. Arriving officers found the grandmother dead inside a home. She had been decapitated, but authorities were unable to find her head.
Authorities identified the grandson as the suspect, accusing him of killing his grandmother in a "targeted attack" before leaving the scene with her head, police said.
Police recovered multiple weapons from the home, but they said further examination will need to be completed in order to identify the murder weapon or weapons.
On Saturday, a San Francisco police officer spotted the grandson at the Transbay Transit Center and detained him without incident, police said. He was later transported to the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility, where he was booked on murder and violation of postrelease community supervision charges.
He was not granted bail and remains in custody, police said.
Authorities on Saturday also found the grandmother's head on the south bank of Santa Rosa Creek near downtown, police said.
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