14 DAY TRIAL // A young girl has been fatally stabbed in a small town in a rural area of California. Police believe that she interrupted a break-in, prompting a violent response from the intruder.
The little girl's body was discovered around noon on Saturday, April 27, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Macedo informs. She would have been nine years old in less than two months.
According to NY Daily News, a manhunt is underway looking for Leila Fowler's killer, and police are asking residents of Valley Springs in Cavaleras county to lock their doors and be wary, as homes in the area are being searched.
“We were doing a house-to-house search and in some cases were searching attics and storages. [...] It’s a difficult area to search. It’s rural, it’s remote,” Macedo details.
The girl was stabbed multiple times and succumbed to her wounds soon after being transported to a hospital. An autopsy is set for today, KCRA adds.
The suspect was seen by the victim's 12-year-old brother who called his parents as soon as he found him in the house.
After entering the residence, he realized that his sister had been injured. A neighbor also spotted the perpetrator escaping the crime scene. He has been described as an athletic, six-foot (1.82-m) tall man dressed in black and blue.
“The Cavaleras county Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office continue to investigate the homicide of a nine year old child at a residence on Rippon Road in Valley Springs, CA.
“Multiple law enforcement agencies are still searching the area for a suspect described as a White or Hispanic male approx six foot tall, muscular build, last seen wearing a black long sleeved shirt and blue pants.
“This suspect is considered armed and dangerous. […] This is still an active investigation,” a rep for the Sheriff's Office says in a press release.