A 16-year-old boy is accused of stabbing a West Hills woman to death and then stealing her car. Connie Cajulis, 53, was found dead in the home she shares with her husband and son in the 7100 block of Shadow Ridge in West Hills Tuesday afternoon by family members, according to KTLA. She had been stabbed multiple times and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, CBS Los Angeles reports.
A teenage boy who Cajulis had allowed to stay in her home as he was going through a rough patch is accused of the stabbing. Police arrested him after he crashed Cajulis' car, which he allegedly stole, nearby. He is currently in the hospital due to injuries suffered as a result of the crash.
According to the Times, there had not been in a murder in West Hills in the last year.
Anyone with additional information should contact the LAPD's Valley Bureau at 818-644-8000.
Update: Cajulis met the teen through her work at Calabasas High School, where she is involved with the school's football boosters club, ABC 7 reports. According to friends of the Cajulis family, the teen was a former student at the school who the family decided to take in when he fell on hard times. An anonymous witness told ABC 7 that the boy seemed to have behavioral issues, and had gotten upset when asked to stop using the Internet by 10 p.m. Monday night.
Cajulis was the mother of two sons, including one who is currently enrolled at the high school and one in college. Calabasas High School Principal C.J. Foss told the station that Cajulis "opened up her home to any student who needed it. She was kind of the mother of anybody that needed mothering."
