Girl held in grandmother’s death

Monday, Dec. 22, 1997 | 10:50 a.m.

A teenage girl detained by Metro Police is being questioned in connection with the stabbing death of her grandmother in California.

The 16-year-old girl and another teenage girl were found early Saturday by Metro sleeping in the slain woman's car. A relative said the girl has a history of running away from her home in Los Alamitos, Calif. The grandmother had raised the girl since she was a toddler, the relative said.

Both girls were questioned Sunday by Los Alamitos detectives and Orange County sheriff's investigators, Los Alamitos police Cpl. Sean Connolly said.

Jean Eleanor Richards, 62, was found dead in her home Friday morning after a neighbor reported seeing a broken window. Detectives believe she was killed Thursday night, authorities said.

The woman's 1990 Toyota Camry was missing.

Richards' daughter, Judy Schroeder, told the Orange County Register that the girl is a granddaughter who Richards had raised since age 3, when her mother died in a car crash.

"She was out of control," said Daniel Richards, the girl's uncle.

Schroeder and Richards said the granddaughter threatened Richards with death last week. Schroeder said the girl had run away from home at least 20 times and once attempted suicide.