California woman in her 60s is killed by man wielding a SLEDGEHAMMER on college campus while walking her dog who refused to leave her side after attack
- Junko Hanafusa, 65, was killed by a man with a sledgehammer on the campus of El Camino College in California
- Jeffery Davis, 40, was identified as the man who attacked Hanafusa while she walked her dog and collected recyclables
- Davis fled the scene but was later arrested after authorities reviewed surveillance footage
A California woman was killed by a man wielding a sledgehammer on a college campus as she walked her dog and collected recyclables.
Junko Hanafusa, 65, was attacked around 7 a.m. Sunday near the gymnasium building on the campus of El Camino College in Torrance.
Jeffery Davis, 40, allegedly took a sledgehammer to Hanfusa before fleeing the scene. Someone nearby saw the victim unconscious and bleeding from her head.
Hanafusa was taken to hospital where she died the next day. The official cause of death will be announced later by a medical examiner.
Davis has since been arrested and is being held without bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Inmate Information Center.
Junko Hanafusa, 65, was attacked Saturday morning when Jeffery Davis, 40, allegedly took a sledgehammer to her while she was walking her dog on the campus of El Camino College in California.
Davis fled the scene before a bystander found Hanafusa outside the school gym, suffering from her injuries
Authorities responded to campus after someone reported an assault. When they arrived, they witnessed Hanafusa suffering from her injuries outside the school gymnasium.
KTL reported that the victim's dog stayed by her side after she was brutally attacked.
'It's devastating. It's heartbreaking. I'm still in shock. Our dogs became friends so they played together and we talked. Just the sweetest woman,” neighbor Leslie Anderson told KTLA.
After reviewing surveillance footage, campus police identified Davis as the suspect.
“The person we had an idea of who was in the security footage is, we believe, a homeless person who we have had prior contact with,” said Sgt. Francisco Esqueda of the El Camino College Police Department.
Police later found Davis in a nearby park, where they had seen him before.
Records show Davis has been involved in nine previous arrests and crimes in neighboring cities.
El Camino Campus police identified Davis after reviewing surveillance footage. They then found him in a nearby park and arrested him for the brutal murder
Many neighbors said Hanafusa regularly walked her dog Cherry and collected recyclables in the area
Sergeant Francisco Esqueda of the El Camino College Police Department said Davis is a homeless man his department has had previous contact with
Several residents said Hanafusa was known to collect recyclables around town and walk her dog.
One resident took to Next Door and posted about her as they recalled their interactions with her and her dog named Cherry.
“My husband and I walked over to her house yesterday to drop off a present and were greeted by Junko's sister who told us that Junko had been attacked by a transient at ECC on Sunday,” they said in the post.
The post also revealed that Hanafusa's neighbor was reportedly adopting her dog.
Davis remains under investigation and police have urged anyone with more information to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.