Man Held in Slaying of Girl, 11 : Homicide: Boyfriend of victim’s mother is arrested after a schoolmate finds the body.

An 11-year-old Compton girl was found slain Wednesday morning by a schoolmate who had come to her apartment to accompany her to school, sheriff’s deputies said.

Investigators arrested a man identified as the boyfriend of the girl’s mother in the death that occurred in an apartment in the 15500 block of White Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy George Ducoulombier said.

Homicide detectives jailed James Heard, 38, on suspicion of murdering Katrina Brown after questioning him for several hours.

A boy who lives in a residence next door to the apartment found the girl’s body on a bedroom floor about 7:30 a.m. after he walked into the house.

The boy, whose identity was not disclosed, ran home to tell an uncle, who notified sheriff’s deputies.

Although deputies first reported that the girl had been shot to death, investigators later said an autopsy would be necessary to determine how she died.

Ducoulombier said Heard was arrested after detectives observed “physical injuries on his body that may be related to some evidence found in the residence.”

Heard had been picked up by paramedics on Market Street in North Long Beach before he was arrested, and was taken to Doctors Hospital for treatment of a mouth wound, Ducoulombier said.

Heard left the hospital and went across the street to a department store where he began “acting suspiciously,” leading employees to call deputies, Ducoulombier said.

It was not known whether Heard was in the apartment when the girl’s body was found. Her mother, who was not identified, was not home.