Woman's Body Found In Santa Ana Motel After Suspect Indicated He Killed Her, Police Say
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) – A man has been arrested on murder charges in the death of a woman whose body was found at a Santa Ana motel early Tuesday morning.
Authorities were lead to the body after 55-year-old Milton Louis Mayfield told California Highway Patrol officers in Northern California early Tuesday morning that he may have committed a murder, Santa Ana police report.
Just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, CHP officers discovered Mayfield's disabled vehicle on the side of a freeway near Tulare County.
While they were talking to him, he made statements regarding the murder of a woman at a Santa Ana motel, but did not specify which one.
CHP immediately contacted Santa Ana police, who began conducting welfare checks at several area motels. At the Sunshine Village Motel, located at 1427 East First St., officers found the woman in question unresponsive in a motel room.
She was declared dead by paramedics at 5:21 a.m., police said. Her name has not been released.
Santa Ana police detectives traveled up to Visalia, where Mayfield was being detained. After interviewing him, he was transported back to Santa Ana and booked on murder.
The exact cause of the death has yet to be determined by the Orange County coroner's office. A motive for the killing remains unknown. Police did not disclose Mayfield's relationship to the victim.