By Jorge Casuso

August12, 2022 -- A man was arrested for murder Thursday morning after he was seen exiting a Downtown apartment where a woman was found dead.

Lamont Horton (Courtesy SMPD)

The victim's body was found by police in a multi-family apartment complex on the 1400 block of Lincoln Boulevard shortly after several witnesses reported hearing a woman screaming for help at around 10:47 a.m. "SMPD Officers arrived to the complex three minutes later," said Lt. Rudy Flores, the Police Department spokesman. "Witnesses told officers a male left the unit and provided them his description. "A responding motor officer spotted a pedestrian, matching the description of the male," Flores said.

The officer followed the suspect to the Jack in the Box at 802 Santa Monica Boulevard, less than a block from the crime scene, where he was "safely detained."

Witnesses identified the suspect as the man they saw exit the unit where officers found "a deceased female who appeared to be a victim of a homicide," Flores said.

Detectives have not released details on how the victim was killed, he said.

The suspect was identified as Lamont E. Horton, a 47-year-old male police believe was living with the victim, Flores said.

Horton was arrested and transported to the Santa Monica jail, where he was subsequently booked for murder.

The homicide is the second in Santa Monica this year and comes two weeks after a man was fatally stabbed in the courtyard of the Main Library two blocks from the scene of Thursday's homicide.

That incident -- which took place on July 29 at around 7:18 p.m. -- involved two homeless men ("Man Fatally Stabbed in Library Courtyard," August 1, 2022).

Anyone with additional information pertaining to this incident should call Detective Burciaga at 310-458-8932 or the Watch Commander (24 hours) at 310-458-8426.