Junko Hanafusa and her dog, Cherry, were inseparable, often spotted by neighbors taking walks through Torrance’s McMaster Park area neighborhood gathering recyclables, and warmly greeting whomever they met along the way.
Their last journey together on Christmas Eve morning took them to El Camino College, where outside the school gymnasium the unthinkable happened. Law enforcement officials say Hanafusa, 65, was collecting bottles and cans when 40-year-old Jeffery Davis, described as a transient, allegedly bludgeoned her to death with a sledgehammer.
It was not clear how Davis allegedly obtained the sledgehammer or why he was carrying it.
Cherry remained devoted to Hanafusa to the end, refusing to leave her side even as she was on the ground unconscious and bleeding. She died on Christmas Day at a local hospital.
The fatal attack appears to have been random and isn’t considered a hate crime directed at Hanafusa, who is Asian, according to Lt. Mike Gomez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau. A specific motive has not been determined.
A passerby discovered Hanafusa and notified authorities. El Camino College police reviewed surveillance video and identified Davis as a suspect due to their previous interactions with him, Gomez said.
About two hours later, Davis was apprehended in Alondra Community Regional Park, where he was known to frequent. The 53-acre county park borders the college, which was on winter break and devoid of students when the attack occurred.
“Thanks to the passerby who called 9-1-1 and the quick response of the El Camino College campus police, this person is now behind bars, in (Los Angeles County) jail, without the possibility of bail, and cannot pose a threat to this community any longer,” Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement regarding Davis’ arrest.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has filed first-degree murder charges against…
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