Behind the Badge
The Tustin PD on Thursday arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of killing his wife, who was found deceased in a bedroom of their apartment after the man called the TPD and said he had “injured” her.
Erik Merida-Diaz will be transported and booked into Orange County Jail pending his release from a hospital, where he is recovering from non-life threatening cuts on his arms, the TPD said in a news release Thursday night.
The cuts are believed to be self-inflicted, TPD Lt. Bob Wright said.
The victim was identified as Elvira Ventura, 35.
Initial investigation indicates she died from strangulation, according to the news release. An autopsy examination will be conducted by the coroner’s office.
At 9:24 a.m. July 6, the TPD responded to the apartment in the 15700 block of Tustin Village Way.
Officers contacted Merida-Diaz in front of the apartment.
TPD detectives conducted a homicide investigation and determined Merida-Diaz was responsible for Ventura’s death, the news release said.
Two other adults and two children were in the apartment when the killing occurred.
Their relationship to Merida-Diaz and Ventura was not released and they are being considered only as possible witnesses, Wright said.
