Registered Sex Offender Jailed; Suspected in Woman’s Slaying

A registered sex offender suspected of fatally stabbing a woman during a fight inside a trailer near a Fullerton church has a criminal history that dates back to his teenage years.

Steven Carl Evans, 55, also used an outdated Norwalk address when he registered in Los Angeles County under Megan’s Law, and his first and middle names were transposed in the database, authorities said.

Evans was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder after the body of a woman in her mid-20s was found inside a trailer to which he had access. She had been stabbed several times in the torso and neck, Fullerton Police Sgt. Ron Gillette said.

The victim’s name was being withheld until notification of relatives. Investigators could not immediately establish any relationship between her and Evans nor find anyone who had seen the two together before.

The woman died sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. Tuesday, Gillette said. She was discovered about 12 hours later, when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from the La Mirada home of Evans’ brother. Evans had gone there and talked to his sister-in-law about a fight he had just had with a woman, Gillette said.

“As a result of that conversation, she calls the L.A. County sheriff and says, ‘My brother-in-law Steve was involved in an altercation with a woman, and she’s either dead or hurt pretty bad,’ ” Gillette said.

Evans’ sister-in-law is a pastor but is not affiliated with the church near where the trailer was parked.

Evans was treated at UCI Medical Center for a puncture wound to the chest and minor cuts, Gillette said.

He was then taken to Fullerton Police headquarters, where he was being held in lieu of $1-million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court by Friday, authorities said.

Evans registered in May as a “serious” sex offender in Los Angeles County, one level below the most dangerous “high-risk” designation. He is listed as Carl Steven Evans, but it is unclear whether he did so intentionally or it was a typographical error by administrators.

“He has a long list of a.k.a.’s, so he could have registered under this name,” Gillette said.

The address Evans provided was the Pioneer Trailer Park on Firestone Boulevard in Norwalk. The manager there, Tonya Hawk, said Evans was evicted nine months ago for failing to pay the $250 monthly rent.

Evans has been in and out of custody since he was a juvenile. He spent eight years in a state prison for a rape in San Bernardino more than 20 years ago, with time served concurrently for forgery and other fraud charges, according to the state Corrections Department. He was paroled in 1988 on those cases but sentenced in the late 1990s to six years for grand theft in Los Angeles County. He was released again two years ago, the records show.

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Times staff writer Christine Hanley contributed to this report.