Victim stabbed outside home en route to work
By Daily Press staff
DOWNTOWN LA — The Santa Monica woman arrested last week for allegedly killing a 23-week-old fetus has been charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, the Los Angles District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
Victoria Nadine Caldwell- Later, 35, was charged with the felony counts on Monday. If convicted, she faces between 25 years and life in prison, according to DA spokeswoman Jane Robison.
Caldwell-Later is being held on $1 million bail at the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street women’s detention center.
Police arrested Caldwell-Later on Thursday in the 1800 block of 18th Street, where she had been living for several weeks, said P.J. Morris, homicide coordinator for LAPD’s northeast division.
Caldwell-Later was taken into custody after allegedly stabbing a 32-year-old pregnant woman outside of her home in the Los Feliz area on Oct. 13. The woman survived, but her unborn daughter did not, Det. Morris said.
The victim was leaving her home to go to work when Caldwell-Later allegedly approached her and stabbed her, Morris said. The two women are believed to know one another.
LAPD detectives also served a search warrant at a home in the 1100 block of Ozone Street, where several items were seized as evidence. Morris declined to discuss the nature of the evidence, including whether or not the murder weapon was recovered.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 6, 2005. Read the original PDF.