A woman was arrested and charged with murder Tuesday night after she led police to the lifeless body of her mother inside a Carmel Valley home, the San Diego Police Department confirmed.
Just before 10:30 p.m., police and paramedics were called to a house in the 3700 block of Carmel View Road for a welfare check on a 73-year-old resident. The caller feared the woman was in distress and in need of help.
When officers arrived, there was no response at the front door. Police said they heard a woman talking and a dog barking from inside the home.
When they opened the door, officers found 51-year-old Lara Epstein standing in the living room. Epstein then directed officers to the body of her dead 73-year-old mother inside the home.
Homicide investigators said the victim had suffered massive blunt force trauma to her body, including some lacerations.
After questioning Epstein, police arrested her on suspicion of murder. No further details of the crime – or a motive – were released by authorities.
Epstein was booked into the LCDRF Las Colinas Detention and Re-entry Facility on one count of first-degree murder. She’s scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
As of Wednesday morning, police had not released the victim’s name, pending notification of family members.
Police officers taped off the home and stayed there overnight waiting on a search warrant so they could go inside. By 6 a.m., they had obtained the warrant and were searching the house for evidence.
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Officials said there was a lot of trace evidence to sift through inside the home, including DNA and fingerprints, so a criminal analyst was called in. Investigators were expected to spend all day searching the home.
SDPD Lt. Paul Rorrison said the suspect and victim are related and later confirmed the victim was the suspect's mother.
He said the victim lived with other in the home, but police are still trying to determine if Epstein lived there as well.
Lt. Rorrison said Epstein was calm and rambling on when police encountered her at the residence. She made some statements that led police to take her into custody, he said.
There were no witnesses in the homicide and investigators said it appears no one heard any suspicious noise coming from the home either. Neighbors said they did not know the victim, as the residents kept mostly to themselves.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday morning, police said. There are no outstanding suspects, Lt. Rorrison added.
