A man arrested this weekend on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence in North Hollywood has been charged with murder after his girlfriend died at a hospital, according to prosecutors.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, police were called to the 12900 block of Willard Street, near the 170 Freeway and Roscoe Boulevard, on Saturday around 4:40 p.m. after a female victim was found in the area with severe head trauma. .
The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was admitted in serious condition until she died on Monday, police said.
During the investigation, detectives were able to identify the suspect as Panorama City resident Edgar Gutierrez. They say he and the victim had been dating for almost two years and were involved in an altercation outside an area home.
Police say Gutierrez entered a car in the area while the woman stood near the driver’s side door. He tried to drive away while she held the car, they noted.
It was then that he allegedly accelerated while driving through residential streets, “making violent maneuvers to force the victim out of the car,” police said.
She was eventually thrown from the car and onto the sidewalk, and Gutierrez fled, police said.
During a search warrant executed by Burbank Police Department officers on Sunday, Gutierrez was located and taken into custody without further incident.
He was arrested at the LAPD Valley Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Police say the Los Angeles district attorney filed murder charges against him on Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the LAPD at (818) 374-9550.
