Calling the deadly stabbing of a lady using a Metro practice “really a tragedy that ought to have by no means occurred,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón on Wednesday introduced a homicide cost towards a homeless man with a historical past of violence towards passengers.
Elliot Tramel Nowden was arrested Monday shortly after Mirna Soza, a 66-year-old safety guard coming back from her night time shift, was discovered mortally wounded on the bottom on the Common Studios practice platform. He has now been charged with homicide, first-degree theft on a transit passenger and use of a lethal weapon.
Soza, a Nicaragua native and mom of three, was on her method dwelling from in a single day work at an Unique Tommy’s hamburger restaurant in North Hills when she was killed. Authorities allege that shortly after 5 a.m., Nowden approached Sosa with a knife and stabbed her within the throat as they each obtained off the practice in North Hollywood.
“She was stabbed with out provocation by a person who grabbed the bag that she was holding,” Gascón mentioned throughout a information convention. The district legal professional mentioned prosecutors additionally filed a particular allegation that the homicide was dedicated throughout a theft. If convicted of all costs, Nowden faces life in jail with out the opportunity of parole.
“I need to guarantee the household we’ll do every part inside our energy, in addition to the police division, to be sure that justice prevails right here.” Gascón mentioned.
“Clearly this was unprovoked. It was violent,” he mentioned.
Elliot Tramel Nowden has been charged with homicide within the deadly stabbing of a passenger on a Metro practice.
(Los Angeles Police Division)
In June 2019, Nowden was arrested and charged with attacking a passenger on a Metro practice in Los Angeles. He pleaded no contest, spent 5 days in jail and obtained a 36-month probation time period, based on courtroom data.
Beneath the phrases of his probation, he was ordered to keep away from Metro trains.
Just a few weeks later, Nowden appeared earlier than a decide on costs of assault with a lethal weapon and battery. He was sentenced to 4 years in state jail after pleading no contest to the assault cost, based on courtroom data, and was given 179 days of credit score for time served.
Nowden was paroled to the Division of State Hospitals on March 18, 2022, throughout his jail sentence, based on the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He was launched on parole supervision in August 2022 and discharged from parole in March 2023. However in January, Nowden was once more arrested by the LAPD for trespassing.
Soza knew that the early hours on public transit may very well be harmful, so she typically stayed at Tommy’s till dawn, her colleagues say. However on Monday, she was too sleepy, so she started her journey dwelling on the B Line.
Different passengers found the bloody scene on the Common platform Monday morning and instantly alerted authorities. Regardless of lifesaving measures from paramedics, Soza died from her accidents on the hospital.
Interim Police Chief Dominic Choi mentioned about half-hour after the LAPD arrived on the practice station, officers noticed an individual matching the attacker’s description close to Ventura Boulevard and Vineland Avenue.
The person, later recognized as Nowden, was detained and interviewed by detectives with the Valley Bureau murder division. Nowden, 45, was arrested on suspicion of homicide after detectives reviewed the proof, based on the LAPD.
Public data present that Nowden’s final identified deal with was in Little Rock, Ark. He was a needed fugitive in Texas in November 2008, based on courtroom data. In Bexar County, Texas, he was charged with theft and narcotics possession.
Throughout Tuesday’s Police Fee assembly, Commissioner Maria Lou Calanche sought Choi’s assurance that there’s sufficient safety on Metro in the course of the early morning.
Choi responded that the division’s “deployment is strategic primarily based on crime developments and wishes.” He didn’t present particulars.
“It’s not only a flat deployment, simply to say that we’re deployed, so we check out crime developments as we have a look at ridership. We have a look at the exercise and deploy accordingly,” Choi added.
He mentioned that officers on trains, in practice stations and on buses, together with the Metro system’s ambassadors, “are a directed effort to extend our presence in addition to the protection on these traces.”
“Once more, we are able to’t be in all places on a regular basis,” Choi mentioned. The division tries to unfold out officers and have interaction with riders “to create a way of security and deal with crime developments or issues as they happen instantly and swiftly.”
Instances workers writers Nathan Solis and Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.
