Witness to Fatal CityWalk Attack Is Arrested

A North Hollywood man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murdering his mother and former girlfriend, whose throats were slashed atop a Universal CityWalk parking structure as they headed home from a Mother’s Day dinner, authorities reported.

Paul Carasi--who told police that he lost consciousness in the attack and found the women in a pool of blood when he came to--was arrested Thursday night after he was interviewed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators, Sgt. Richard Dinsmoore said.

Carasi, 30, was the only known witness to events leading to the killings of his mother, Doris Carasi, 61, and former girlfriend Sonia Salinas, 29, mother of his 2-year-old son.

Carasi, who suffered cuts on his thumb and arm, has told investigators that he was attacked from behind and that he was injured while trying to grab his assailant’s knife before he passed out.

Carasi was booked at Men’s Central Jail on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail, Dinsmoore said.

“The investigation is still continuing as to [any] possible involvement” of Carasi’s current girlfriend, Donna K. Lee, Dinsmoore said.

Investigators served two search warrants Thursday--at the apartment unit that Carasi shared with Lee and at the apartment that his mother shared with Salinas and his son, just two doors away in the same North Hollywood complex.

Lee, 44, was found about 15 minutes after the slayings with a deeply slashed stomach alongside the Hollywood Freeway about four miles from CityWalk. Lee told authorities that she was robbed and attacked alongside the road.

Sheriff’s investigators said they wanted to question Lee about a bloody butcher knife--which deputies said may be the weapon used in the CityWalk slayings--and a fanny pack belonging to Doris Carasi, both of which CHP officers found near Lee’s car.

Lee, who was stabbed twice in the stomach and suffered a superficial back wound, underwent surgery for her stomach injuries. She was listed in fair but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Deputies said they tried to interview Lee on Tuesday, but she refused to talk. Relatives informed authorities that they wanted to retain a lawyer for her before she answered detectives’ questions.

Lee, Salinas and Paul Carasi all worked together at a Bank of America data processing center in Downtown Los Angeles, a bank spokesman said.