Crime & Safety
Victim's Head Found And Identity Revealed In Grisly Beheading Homicide
The Coroner's Office reports that the beheading victim was the grandmother of the suspect, who had just been released from prison.
SANTA ROSA, CA — Santa Rosa police said Monday they found the decapitated head of a woman killed Thursday, allegedly by her grandson, 23-year-old Luis Gustavo Aroyo-Lopez, of Santa Rosa.
The head was found around 7:30 p.m. near Santa Rosa Creek.
The Sonoma County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 64-year-old Elvia Lopez-Arroyo, of Santa Rosa.
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Aroyo-Lopez was arrested in San Francisco on Saturday morning, at the Transbay Transit Center without incident, when a San Francisco police officer recognized him from police bulletins. He was held until he could be transferred to Santa Rosa police.
Santa Rosa detectives found Lopez-Arroyo's head on the south bank of Santa Rosa Creek, adjacent to the Prince Memorial Greenway, just east of A Street, in Santa Rosa.
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Santa Rosa police responded at approximately 3:40 p.m. Thursday to a report of a possible homicide at a home on the 2500 block of Pomo Trail. Officers found Lopez-Arroyo dead and said her grandson took her decapitated head.
Police said multiple weapons were recovered from the residence and will undergo further examination before the murder weapon is identified.
Aroyo-Lopez was booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody without bail.
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