San Carlos Homicide Victim ID’d: Reports

SAN CARLOS, CA — The victim of Thursday’s grisly San Carlos homicide has been identified by multiple outlets as Karina Castro, a 27-year-old Menlo-Atherton High School graduate and the mother of two.

ABC 7 was first to report the victim’s identity after securing permission from her relatives to do so.

The victim’s identity was also confirmed by her sister, KRON reports.

The suspect in Castro's killing has been identified as 33-year-old Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta according to jail records, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Multiple outlets have reported that the victim was beheaded, but the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office hasn't confirmed such accounts.

The crime occurred outside the victim’s home in broad daylight late Thursday morning.

Sheriff’s Office Lt. Eamonn Allen told reporters Thursday that a “stabbing instrument was used” and that responding deputies found the victim “obviously deceased.”

Landaeta and his victim had been involved in a relationship, but the victim had a restraining order against him, ABC 7 reports.

Child Protective Services took custody of the victim's two children, both girls, 7 and 1 years of age, along with a dog and two cats that were in the house, ABC 7 reports.

Landaeta is the father of Castro's 1-year-old daughter, the television station reports.

Deputies were notified at about 11:50 a.m. about the attack in the area of Magnolia Avenue and Laurel Street near downtown San Carlos and found the woman dead.

The suspect, who deputies said was known to the victim, returned to the scene shortly afterward and was arrested on suspicion of the killing, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Brandt at (650) 333-8195 or dbrandt@smcgov.org.

Read more at ABC 7