Authorities in San Francisco said Friday that a man was detained in the stabbing death of a former public defender at her home.
Police said Marla Zamora, 65, was found stabbed to death in her home in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of the city. According to the SF Gate, a man covered in blood inside the home was detained for questioning.
San Francisco police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said officers were called to Zamora’s house at around 11 a.m. and detained a man for questioning in the killing. It’s unclear how the person in question knew Zamora. The man’s identity was not released.
Gatpandan said a motive behind the killing wasn’t immediately clear.
“We have a person that is being investigated at this time. This occurred at a residence and this was not a random crime on the street.” Capt. Raj Vaswani of the Bayview Police Station said on the social media site Nextdoor.
Zamora had been the principal trial attorney for the San Francisco public defender’s office and hyad been a public defender for 30 years before leaving office.
She defended Edwin Ramos, a gang member who was accused of killing a man and his two sons in 2008 because he thought they were gang members from Mission Hill. Ramos was convicted of the murders in 2012.
Jeff Adachi, a fellow public defender, told KTVU-TV that she would be missed.
"For this to happen to her is just unbelievable," he said. "And we're in shock. Marla never shied away from a tough case and over her career she handled a lot of really hard cases."
Neighbors said it appeared that Zamora lived alone and she was often seen walking her dogs.
"She was very outgoing and very excitable," Richard Shapiro, a neighbor, told the station. "I know she loved her career."
Flowers were left outside her home as law enforcement officers combed the property for clues. Neighbors said she is survived by a daughter who currently lives in Los Angeles.
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