A woman who was found dead in the trunk of a car was allegedly killed by her 24-year-old son, who officers arrested after a chase and a three-vehicle crash.
El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) gave details in a news release, including the fact that the incident came to investigators’ attention after another of the woman’s sons discovered the body and reported it to 911.
Law enforcement became aware of the situation when officers went to the Motel 6 on Montrose Court in El Cajon, California after getting a call from a man who said he had gone to the business to check on his mother, 51-year-old Jamison Webster.
The caller told police he became concerned when she didn’t return home after visiting his brother, 24-year-old Richard Leyva.
That, police said, was when the man who called 911 discovered her body in the trunk of her car, a black Hyundai Sonata.
After the discovery, the men then began fighting, police said Wednesday, and Leyva jumped into his mother’s car and drove off, striking his brother with the vehicle in his escape. Police said his brother wasn’t hurt by the car, however.
When officers found the Sonata near Madison and Magnolia avenues, Leyva refused to stop, prompting a pursuit through El Cajon and Spring Valley.
Leyva then returned to El Cajon, according to investigators, where he crashed into two vehicles near Interstate 8 on North Mollison Avenue. Officers used a taser on Leyva to aid in taking him into custody.
Officers then discovered Webster’s lifeless body in the trunk when searching the car. Police have not yet released her manner of death.
Leyva has been booked into San Diego County Jail and has been charged with homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and evading law enforcement.
