A man accused of decapitating his grandmother and then fleeing with her severed head has been seized by police in California.
Luis Gustavo Aroyo-Lopez, 24, is said to have beheaded his gran at her home in the city of Santa Rosa, in the US state of California, on Thursday, 2nd November.
The suspect had just been released on probation after a jail term for assault with a deadly weapon and the possession of weapons when he arrived at the victim’s home at the 2500 block of Pomo Trail at around 3.40pm.
Preliminary investigations showed that he had killed the elderly lady. It is unclear whether Aroyo-Lopez still had the head when he was arrested a day later or if it is still missing.
Santa Rosa Police said in a statement obtained by Newsflash before the arrest: “The victim’s head was not located at the residence.
“It is believed Aroyo-Lopez took the victim’s head with him when he left the residence, and he may still be in possession of it.”
One neighbour, identified only as Jessica by local media, said she saw the suspect strolling towards the victim’s home at around noon on the day she was found dead.
She said: “He just walked a normal pace and, made an exact turn up the walkway, and knocked on the door.
“I paused over here with my dog just to make sure my neighbor knew who he was.
“[The elderly woman] was surprised and happy, and I heard the word ‘you.’ They were just, you know, talking, and then the door closed, and I thought, ‘Phew! She knows the guy.'”
But just three hours later the neighbour said she heard a woman screaming as she ran out of the house after finding the victim’s headless body.
Jessica said: “She kept yelling ‘No head!’ and I wasn’t sure what she meant.”
The woman, said to be the victim’s sister, reportedly kept going in and out of the home, looking for the missing head.
Aroyo-Lopez was arrested on Friday, 3rd November in San Francisco, and is currently held at Sonoma County Jail without bail.
He is scheduled to appear in court at 8.30am on Tuesday, 7th November.
Police said: “We do not have details regarding his arrest at this time.
“SRPD Violent Crimes Investigations detectives are still actively investigating this case, and additional information will be shared at a later time.”
