Teen, Boyfriend Charged in Grandmother’s Murder

Prosecutors filed murder charges Tuesday against a 16-year-old Los Alamitos girl and her boyfriend, who are accused of killing her grandmother and then stealing the victim’s car for a drive to Las Vegas.

A knife that may have been used to stab Jean Eleanor Richards, 62, was discovered Tuesday during a search of her car, which was seized in Nevada, a police source said.

The victim’s granddaughter and her 17-year-old boyfriend--whose names are not being released because they are juveniles--were taken into custody over the weekend. They waived extradition proceedings in Nevada and were returned to Orange County, prosecutor Jim Tanizaki said Tuesday.

The suspects are being held in a juvenile detention facility on suspicion of murder. The prosecutor said his office will seek to have the teenagers tried as adults.

Richards’ body was discovered Friday after neighbors noticed a shattered window at her home in the 11900 block of Paseo Bonita, police said. She had been stabbed in the back.

Family and neighbors said ongoing conflicts between Richards and her granddaughter had reached a fever pitch in recent months, with disputes over money, school and the girl’s freedom.

Police repeatedly responded to domestic violence calls at the home. Efforts to get the troubled girl--who was being raised by her grandmother--into foster care or a facility failed, according to relatives.

“There was a cry for help, and nobody would come to our side,” according to Jim Schroeder, a son-in-law to the Richards, a grandmother of seven.

The teens were found sleeping inside the car early Saturday morning on the east side of Las Vegas, according to Los Alamitos Police Capt. Arl Farris.

Las Vegas police detained the teens until Orange County investigators arrived to question them, Farris said.

The 1990 Toyota that belonged to Richards was ferried back to Orange County early Tuesday on a flatbed truck. Criminalists who combed the car for evidence discovered the knife that is believed to be the murder weapon, according to an investigator.

The quick arrests of the suspects has brought “some small closure” for the victim’s family, but Farris said the tragedy remains overwhelming for the people who knew Richards as “a wonderful, sweet person, a Mother Teresa.”

The timing of the crime has also been harsh, he said.

“It’s pretty ugly to be standing at a crime scene like this and everywhere on the street is Christmas lights,” Farris said. “This is a tough one all the way around.”