Deputies in Los Angeles County have arrested a suspect accused of stabbing a father and his daughter to death in a Kohl’s parking lot in broad daylight.
The victims, identified as Ken Evans, 54, and his 22-year-old daughter McKenna, were attacked Thursday outside a shopping center in Palmdale, California, according to police and media reports.
“McKenna never took a bad picture, no matter what face she was making,” the woman’s mother, Elizabeth Evans, told the Los Angeles Times. “She was just full of joy, and she cared for both people and animals.”
Evans also described her husband Ken as “doting father” who “loved spending as much time as he could with his daughter.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, in a statement, said they were called to the area around 11:52 a.m. on Oct. 27 “regarding an assault with a deadly weapon call.”
“Investigators learned all parties involved were parked in the parking lot of the location and appeared to live in their vehicles. The suspect had asked the male adult victim for assistance regarding his vehicle, during which an argument ensued,” the department said. “The argument led to a physical fight and ultimately the stabbing of both victims.”
Deputies that responded to the scene arrested an adult male, although they say no murder weapon has been recovered.
Investigators that spoke to the Los Angeles Times said the suspect may have been a transient, but the Sheriff’s Department could not confirm that information Monday when contacted by Fox News Digital.
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The suspect’s name has not been publicly released and Ken Evans died after being taken to a local hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In a Facebook post by an account purportedly belonging to McKenna Evans, she wrote in the days leading up to the stabbing, “Hey guys, a lot of things are going on right now, things that are leaving me stressed and scared, and I could really use some prayers,” adding that “My family still needs to find a home but our case worker hasn’t been much help.”