TURLOCK – Investigators with the Turlock Police Department arrested a man Tuesday afternoon in connection to the recent discovery of a deceased person in a partially burned building.
On Monday afternoon officers were given a tip reporting that a man who had possibly been assaulted was found in an abandoned building on the 1300 block of West Linwood Avenue. Detectives were called to the scene after the discovery of a deceased adult man inside of a partially burned room. A search warrant was obtained for the home so detectives could examine the scene more carefully and gather evidence.
Fire investigators responded to assist police detectives and spent several hours at the location processing the scene. The coroner responded to recover the victim, who remained unidentified as of Wednesday afternoon pending notification of family.
Detectives interviewed several witnesses Tuesday, leading to the identification of 58 year old Danny Stevens as a person of interest. He was later arrested at about 2:20pm on Esperanza Court as he tried to elude police. Stevens was interviewed and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail without bail on homicide related charges.
Police say the suspect and victim only knew each other for a short amount of time and that the motive is unclear, but do not believe the incident to be a random act of violence.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Detective Gina Giovacchini at (209) 668-6539 or Crime Stoppers at (209) 521-4636 where callers can remain anonymous.
