Police Seek Man, 23, in Stabbing Death of His Ex-Girlfriend

Authorities issued a warrant Tuesday for the arrest of a 23-year-old Camarillo man in connection with the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend earlier this month.

Luis Ponce is wanted on suspicion of killing Eva Traschel-Gooch, a 33-year-old bartender and aspiring singer, whose body police found on the floor of her Sherman Oaks apartment Dec. 9.

Family members concerned about unreturned calls to Traschel-Gooch’s home had asked Los Angeles police to check on her.

This summer, after a fitful and abusive relationship, Traschel-Gooch split with Ponce because she was upset about his criminal activities, according to Det. Stephen Fisk, a homicide investigator with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys station.

Sometime later, Ponce vandalized Traschel-Gooch’s apartment, Fisk said. Soon after she reported the incident, authorities issued a warrant for Ponce’s arrest.

Ponce was furious when he learned of the warrant, Fisk said.

“On Dec. 5, the Saturday before she was murdered, he called over there and said he was going to kill her,” Fisk said relatives told him. Three days later, early in the morning of Dec. 8, Traschel-Gooch returned home from a job tending bar at a party.

About 4 a.m., police say, Ponce kicked in Traschel-Gooch’s door, stabbed her repeatedly and walked out, leaving the door ajar.

“He’s your basic lowlife drug dealer,” Fisk said, noting Ponce’s gang affiliation and prior criminal record. “He’s a criminal.”

After the slaying, Ponce attempted to flee to Lake Tahoe with a friend, who fell asleep at the wheel and overturned the vehicle on the Golden State Freeway near Lost Hills, Fisk said.

Ponce left the accident scene before California Highway Patrol officers arrived to assist the friend, Fisk said.

The friend, who police have declined to identify, is cooperating with authorities and will not be prosecuted for assisting Ponce, Fisk said.

Police suspect Ponce is hiding with friends or family in the Valley or in Ventura County.