The estranged husband sought in the fatal stabbing of a woman in her Santa Clarita home was in custody Thursday night after engaging in a standoff with sheriff’s deputies following a pursuit.
The stabbing was reported about 5:10 a.m. Thursday at a home in the 22800 block of Fir Court, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect, James Mathew Dorsey, 41, is considered “armed and dangerous,” sheriff’s officials said.
Later Thursday, aerial video showed authorities in an hours-long standoff with a homicide suspect believed to be Dorsey. The suspect was in a car that appeared to have crashed near an aqueduct on 300th Street West in the Antelope Valley, before he was taken into custody.
Investigators say the victim identified Dorsey as the suspect with her last breaths.
“Prior to dying she gave what we call a dying declaration. She made a dying declaration and identified the suspect as her former husband, her estranged husband,” Sheriff’s Lt. Barry Hall told KTLA. “He was not welcomed here. He lives out of state. So he came out of here in the dark of night and got into the house somehow and did this.”
Dorsey is believed to be driving a white, four-door Chevy Malibu with the California license plate number 7ALF904.
The woman, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Three children were inside the home at the time of the attack, but have since been taken to a safe location.
Aerial video from Sky5 showed yellow crime scene tape around a home on a small neighborhood street. Neighbors told KTLA the woman could often be heard playing outside with her three children on their trampoline.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help raise money for the victim’s three boys.
Sheriff’s officials urge anyone who sees Dorsey to call 911.
The investigation is ongoing and no further details were available.
