Crime & Safety

Updated: Man, 21, Arrested in Connection with Fatal Stabbing of Stepmother

The suspect is in jail on $1 million bond, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

By Adam Townsend 

Updated 10:30 a.m. Saturday

A 21-year-old man suspected of fatally stabbing his 66-year-old stepmother in Lake Forest Friday was in custody and is expected to be charged with the murder. 

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Oscar Luis Morlett, of Foothill Ranch, was arrested about two miles from the crime scene, Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said. Morlett is in jail on $1 million bond.

"There are no other suspects at this time and there are no threats to the public," according to a press release from the OC Sheriff's Department. "The victim was stabbed to death and found deceased in the residence. Morlett was transported to Sheriff's Headquarters in Santa Ana and will subsequently be booked for murder."

Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Saturday morning, the OCSD released the name of the victim, Jeanne Ellen Morlett, 66, of Foothill Ranch.

The victim resided in the home on Blazewood near Portola and Alton parkways, where her body was found this morning, Hallock said.

Sheriff's deputies discovered the body when responding to a disturbance call in Lake Forest today, and homicide detectives were summoned.

The deputies were called at 11:18 a.m. to a residence on Blazewood near Portola and Alton parkways, where they found the woman dead, Hallock said.

Initially investigators called the woman's demise a "suspicious death" but by 4 p.m. Hallock said it was officially a homicide investigation. 

- City News Service contributed to this report.


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