Quick Take
Samuel Stone, a 20-year-old former UC Santa Cruz student, was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail following his arrest early Friday morning. The victim, a 21-year-old Santa Cruz woman, died at Dominican Hospital.
Santa Cruz police have arrested a man on charges of murdering his girlfriend early Friday morning at Seabright State Beach.
Police said in a media release that officers were called to the beach at around 1:16 a.m. Friday morning, where they found a 20-year-old man near the waterline next to an unconscious woman.
Santa Cruz Police Department officers attempted life-saving measures on the victim — a 21-year-old Santa Cruz woman — until firefighters and paramedics arrived. The woman was transported to Dominican Hospital, where she died.
Officers arrested Samuel Brannigan Stone, 20, and charged him with homicide; investigators say they later learned that Stone and the victim had been dating. Santa Cruz Police Deputy Chief Jon Bush told Lookout that Stone himself was the one who called police.
Bush said the victim is a UC Santa Cruz student. UCSC spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason confirmed that Stone attended UCSC from summer 2021 until Jan. 10, 2024. The university is offering counseling to anyone affected by the news.
“We are shocked to learn that a former student has been arrested on suspicion of homicide by the Santa Cruz Police Department,” said Hernandez-Jason in a statement, adding that the university is not releasing the victim’s name at the request of her family, but is cooperating with investigators. “We mourn the tragic loss of life and send our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.
In an email to campus Monday afternoon, UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive wrote: “News of this crime is deeply unsettling, and we are doing all we can to support those in our community affected by this senseless tragedy.”
Stone has been booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail and was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday morning.
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