Boyfriend arrested in Palmdale mother's fatal stabbing [Updated]

The boyfriend of a Palmdale mother of six stabbed to death in her home as her children slept was behind bars Tuesday after being booked on a murder charge in connection with the killing, investigators said.

Kenneth Roger Griffin, 51, walked into the Palmdale sheriff's station about 7:45 p.m. Monday after detectives had been searching for him since Sunday morning, when Andrea Perry's body was found by two of her teenage daughters.

[Updated, 10:40 a.m.: At least two  homicides have been reported within two miles of Sunday's stabbing since January 2007, according to coroner’s data collected for The Times’ interactive Homicide Report.]

Officials named Griffin as a person of interest in the case, and sheriff's homicide investigators had appealed through the media for him to come in and be questioned.

Griffin arrived at the Palmdale station Monday evening with an attorney and was arrested and booked, officials said.

He was at Perry's home Saturday evening but when her children awoke Sunday and found their mother stabbed to death, he was gone, said Lt. David Dolson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Griffin told KTLA-TV that he left the home at 11 p.m. Saturday.

Perry's body was discovered about 9:30 a.m. Sunday inside her house in the 39000 block of Desert Holly Lane, Dolson said.

Perry's older children told KTLA-TV that Griffin was at their house when they went to bed Saturday night.

Griffin was being held without bail and was transferred Tuesday morning to the downtown L.A. Inmate Reception Center.

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Detectives search for killer who fatally stabbed mother of six in her Palmdale home

-- Richard Winton

Map: Shows location of Sunday's stabbing in purple, as well as two other homicides in red, since January 2007. Credit: Homicide Report

Comments

[numbersgame]

It's kind of interesting leading up to this guy's arrest that the police kept on emphasizing and reemphasizing to the public that this guy was NOT A SUSPECT, that his connection to this was poorly linked at best. Then when he does show up, they arrest him.

So lesson learned...if you're named by the police, but don't call you a suspect, and they say they just want to talk to you, you are GUILTY by default, and they will arrest you.

[surfdogh2o]

I feel sorry for those kids. Hopefully the justice system will work quickly and seeing the criminal in jail for the rest of his life might help them work through their grief.

[planetnymph]

So where's the father of all these children? And how many father's are there? How does a single mother with six children have time for a boyfriend anyway? Not saying she deserved to die but obviously her priorities were not aligned with her chosen profession of motherhood.

[Marc]

Lets see. Mom alive with boyfriend at night, mom stabbed dead and boyfriend gone by morning. Police announce boyfriend not a suspect but want to talk to him (smart move). Boyfriend shows up with lawyer in tow and gets arrested.

The police weren't emphasizing and reemphasizing to the public, they were emphasizing and reemphasizing to the "suspect". If there was no evidence of his guilt, he wouldn't be in jail.

[Ree]

She had 2 biological children and the other 4 are foster kids. She was a foster mom but to all 6, she was mom. This is very depressing. I pray for the children.

[Poppa]

For the doubters a single mother with kids does have time for a boy friend. My sister had six children to raise after her husband died and two are now in college, one is an accomplished musician and another a math genius. She worked two jobs and still has a house, not in CA, with a guest house in the back. Some people have no children and don't have it together. She is also Black.

[Just Maybe]

@planetnymph
I don't know the deceased woman, and neither do you. For all we know, she could have had a stable home until death or divorce ended her marriage. She had 6 kids, but she was 50 and the eldest was 14.

As for why did she have a boyfriend? Many single mother hope to remarry to create a stable binary-parent household for their kids. Economic desperation and/or ignorance of what constitutes domestic abuse often keep these women tied to bad partners. And then when things go *really* bad, someone ends up hurt or killed.

[Ali]

She was 41 and she was biological mom to 4 kids and she took in 2 of her sister's children to get the record straight.. She also took care of her elderly mother as well. She was a great church going woman who did not deserve to die. I can't believe how some people can speak negatively about a woman, a mother, who has lost her life. I hope justice is served quickly and I also hope those poor kids get the love that they need.

[AVLD1983]

What does her homicide have to do with her lifestyle? Nothing at all, there are 6 children that do not have a mother. Have a heart.
As for the suspect's arrest, I think the police didn't want to label him as a suspect publicly because they probably didn't want to scare him into running off. Don't know for sure, just a thought.