Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Santa Clarita Woman, 36, Found Shot to Death at Home

Authorities say Laurel Prejean was on the phone with a counselor Friday when the call ended with a scream.

In what authorities called the first homicide in Santa Clarita in more than a year, the 36-year-old widow was found shot to death in the home she shared with her sister since her husband died in a motorcycle accident about a month ago.

The grief counselor was talking to Prejean just before 3 p.m. when Prejean screamed and the line went dead. Prejean’s counselor called 911, said Sgt. Ken Gallatin, of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.

Prejean was pronounced dead at the scene in the 27000 block of Seco Canyon Road. Deputies said she had been shot once in the chest with a medium-caliber handgun.

There was no one else at the house when deputies arrived, said Lt. Steve Dolan, and Prejean’s blue 1988 Hyundai was missing from the driveway.

“We can’t say for sure it was stolen, but it appears to be related,” Dolan said.

Most of Prejean’s neighbors along the four-lane Seco Canyon Road were at work when the shooting occurred. But those who were at home said they heard nothing unusual.

Sheriff’s officials were seeking friends and relatives of Prejean’s for questioning Friday night, but they named no suspects in the case.

The last homicide in Santa Clarita--ranked the fourth safest city of its size in the country last year in FBI statistics--occurred Dec. 15, 1993, when 29-year-old martial arts expert Veronica Estrada was strangled as she walked home. Stuart Edward Milburn, a fellow martial arts instructor, stood trial twice on charges of killing her. Both trials ended in hung juries.