The victim of a gruesome beheading in Santa Rosa, California, has been identified as a 64-year-old grandmother whose severed head was found near a stream two days after her own grandson allegedly decapitated her and fled with her head, authorities said Monday.
Elvia Lopez-Arroyo, a Santa Rosa resident, was found dead inside her home in the 500 block of Pomo Trail last week when officers responded to a report of a possible homicide, Santa Rosa police said.
The decapitated victim’s head was not found at the scene, though police said multiple weapons were discovered inside the home. Police said further testing on the weapons was needed to determine the murder weapon and did not specify what kinds of weapons were found.
Investigators determined that Luis Gustavo Aroyo-Lopez, the victim’s 23-year-old grandson, killed her on Thursday in a "targeted attack" before leaving the scene with her head, according to police.
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On Saturday evening, detectives recovered the 64-year-old’s head on the south bank of the Santa Rosa Creek near the Prince Memorial Greenway in Santa Rosa.
The 23-year-old was arrested earlier Saturday in San Francisco after local police spotted the wanted man at the Transbay Transit Center on Mission Street.
Aroyo-Lopez, who has a large tattoo of "420" and a marijuana leaf on the left side of his head, was booked into a Sonoma County jail on charges of murder and violating post-release community supervision for a previous crime.
Aroyo-Lopez was not granted bail and remains in custody.
The 23-year-old has a violent criminal history, which includes jail time for assault with a deadly weapon and weapons possession charges. The charges were unrelated to the victim in the homicide incident.
He was recently released from state prison and placed on post-release community supervision, police said.
