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Stabbing Murder: Mother Told There Was A 'Surprise' For Her At Home, Finds Body Of Daughter

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Photo by carl ballou via Shutterstock

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A Hawthorne woman who was told by her husband that there was a "surprise" waiting for her at home discovered to her horror that it was the body of her 22-year-old daughter.

A cousin of the victim told Fox 11 that the stepfather had called the mother to tell her about the "surprise." She came home to find that her daughter, Naquia Catching, had been stabbed to death. In its 11:00 a.m. newscast, ABC 7 reported that Catching's throat had been cut.

According to a Los Angeles Sheriffs Department press release, the murdered happened in the 4800 block of West 118th Street and was reported just before 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Fox 11 talked to neighbor Camille Hawley, who told them, "I heard the mother screaming. She ran down here and beat my chest and said, 'He did it. Oh my god, he did it, he did it." Hawley said she lives "down the street," but could hear the mother screaming from that distance and rushed to help.

The stepfather, whose name has not been released, is being described at this time only as a "person of interest." No physical description of him has been given yet by police. We'll update this story when more information is available.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. You can also provide information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637).

UPDATE, The stepfather, Alvin Hunt, was arrested October 5 and charged with murder.

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