SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A suspect is in custody in connection to the death of a woman found at an apartment complex in North Sacramento on Wednesday.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the complex, located in the 2000 block of Wyda Way, to conduct a welfare check around 10 a.m. on Oct. 28. When deputies arrived, they found a 38-year-old woman dead inside an apartment.
Initially, deputies were unsure about the victim’s cause of death. Homicide investigators, however, later determined the woman was a victim of foul play, although a cause of death has not been revealed.
Based on evidence gathered and witnesses interviewed, detectives identified 37-year-old Eugene Leal as a person of interest in the crime. Leal was arrested on Thursday and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on a murder complaint, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators said the two were boyfriend and girlfriend and shared two children together.
Family members identified the woman as Reina Almanza.
Her daughter, Eliza Reina Singh-Almanza said she wants her mom to be remembered for how she lived.
"My mom will always be remembered as a fighter, as an amazing person who didn't deserve this, but like I said, she left such a good mark on people. Everybody will always remember her for nothing but good," Singh-Almanza said.
Almanza's sister, Melissa Miranda, is hoping her story can help others.
The family says Almanza was a victim of domestic violence.
"It was the trade of domestic violence - something that happened before and then it went away and then he came back into her life and then this time she didn't make it out alive," Miranda said.
This case remains under investigation. If you have any information about this incident, you are asked to call the sheriff’s office at 916-874-5115.
