Authorities in California are investigating the death of a woman whose partner allegedly threatened to harm her 3-year-old and attacked an officer shortly before her body was found.
Lizbeth Arceo Sedano, 25, was not reachable by her family or authorities when her partner Joshua Gonzalez was arrested after allegedly threatening to harm her child and attacking an officer, police in Watsonville, Calif., said in a statement on Sunday, Aug. 4.
Police expressed “serious concerns” about Sedano’s well-being in their statement and asked for help finding her, adding that her family has said it was out of character for her not to answer phone calls or text messages.
According to Watsonville police, Gonzalez was outside the police department on Saturday evening when he allegedly called the dispatch center claiming he “was armed with a knife and was going to hurt the three-year-old child.”
He allegedly told the dispatcher the child is his stepdaughter, police told SF Gate.
When a first responder got out of a patrol car and ordered him to drop the knife, Gonzalez allegedly “charged” at the officer, prompting him to shoot him, the statement claims. He was taken to a trauma center. The child was unharmed in the incident.
On Monday, deputies dispatched to a Santa Cruz location found a deceased body, which they soon identified as that of Sedano, the sheriff’s department said later that day.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death as “suspicious,” adding that the investigation will continue while authorities work to determine her cause and manner of death.
The statements from either department did not name any charges against Gonzalez, who was in stable condition after the shooting.
In a GoFundMe set up to for her funeral expenses and financial needs for her daughter, Sedano’s family said she was “outgoing, loving, and most of all she was a dedicated mother to her 3-year-old daughter.”
“Lizbeth’s death was tragic and our family will never be the same again,” the fundraiser stated. (People)