Woman attacked with sledgehammer, killed on Christmas Eve

TORRANCE, Calif. — A woman was killed after she was attacked with a sledgehammer on Christmas Eve at a college in Torrance, California.

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The assault happened just after 7 a.m. Sunday in the 16000 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, according to KABC.

Investigators said that the victim was collecting recyclables at El Camino College when she was attacked, the news station reported.

A man with a sledgehammer attacked her and fled the area before law enforcement arrived, according to KTLA.

The victim was spotted by the gymnasium by someone passing by the area. Officers found her unconscious and she appeared to be bleeding from her head, the news outlet reported. Her dog stayed at her side.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where she died a day later on Christmas from her injuries, KTLA reported.

The sheriff’s department only identified the victim as an Asian woman between the ages of 60 and 65, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Investigators identified the suspect through surveillance footage as Jeffrey Davis, 40, according to KTLA.

“The person that we had an idea of who was on the security footage is, we believe, a homeless person we’ve had contact with before,” said Sgt. Francisco Esqueda of El Camino College Police, according to the news outlet. “So we were able to go to the neighboring county park where he sometimes hangs out and that’s where we found him.”

Davis was arrested shortly after the incident, the Los Angeles Times reported.