School Volunteer, 'Mother' To All Possibly Killed By Troubled Teen She Brought Into Her Home

WEST HILLS, CA --- A 16-year-old boy was in custody today on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 53-year-old West Hills woman who had taken the troubled teen into the home she shared with her husband and son.

Connie Cajulis, a regular volunteer at Calabasas High School and strong supporter of the school's athletic programs, was found in the residence in the 7100 block of Shadow Ridge Court between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Tuesday and the teen
was arrested the same day, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said the teen took the woman's car and crashed it a short distance from the home, leading to his arrest.

Cajulis was not related to the teen, but friends said she and her family had taken the boy into their home, possibly after he was expelled from Calabasas High School.

"She opened up her home to any student who needed it,'' Calabasas High School principal C.J. Foss told ABC7. "She was kind of the mother of anybody that needed mothering.''

Cajulis and her husband have a son who still attends the high school, along with a son in college.

Sgt. Greg Houser, the watch commander at the LAPD's Topanga Station, said officers responded to a call about an injured woman "and found the victim had suffered multiple stab wounds.''

"Paramedics pronounced the woman dead at the scene,'' he said. "Detectives don't believe the motive was robbery.''

The investigation was being handled by Valley Bureau homicide detectives, Houser said.

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--City News Service/Patch file photo