Woman killed, suspect arrested in Santa Rosa stabbing

A woman was stabbed to death in southwest Santa Rosa on Monday afternoon, and the man who investigators believe is responsible for the attack has been arrested, police said.

The 33-year-old suspect, Varinder Singh of Santa Rosa, was taken into custody about 45 minutes after the fatal stabbing, according to a police report.

Singh knew the woman he is suspected of killing, police said, but information about the nature of their relationship was not released.

Police said the woman who died was in her late 30s, but they declined to provide her name, saying they were withholding additional details about her identity until her relatives were notified.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack, which happened in the 2900 block of West Creek Lane, police said.

Police were dispatched to the scene after a 911 caller reported a man with a knife in the area at about 3:27 p.m., according to the police report.

When they arrived, the woman was lying in the street near the sidewalk. She appeared to have been stabbed several times, the report said.

Police said there were several witnesses to the attack, and investigators learned that it began with an argument between the woman and Singh inside a home.

The details of the argument weren’t known to police on Tuesday, said Sgt. Chris Mahurin, a Santa Rosa Police Department spokesman.

“The suspect started stabbing the victim inside the residence, then into the garage and outside the front of the residence, as she tried to escape the suspect,” Mahurin said.

Witnesses told police that Singh had fled the scene in a gray BMW sedan, according to the police report.

Rohnert Park police found Singh in his vehicle near the Raley’s supermarket in northern Rohnert Park at about 4:15 p.m.

He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of murder and remained in custody on Tuesday.

Singh was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The stabbing was Santa Rosa’s fourth homicide of 2022.

The first happened Jan. 15 outside a food truck at Sebastopol Road and West Avenue.

Santa Rosa resident Brayan Perez-Lara, 31, was waiting in line for food when he was fatally shot, police said. A suspect, Inocencio Dunuan, a 27-year-old from Santa Rosa, was later arrested.

The second homicide occurred March 18 following a dispute between two groups outside a downtown Santa Rosa bar on Mendocino Avenue.

Members of one of the groups got into a car and drove from the scene. As they did so a back seat passenger opened fire. One of the bullets struck and later killed Dominic Zumsteg, 24, who was in the front seat of the car.

The three other people in the car were arrested.

The third homicide happened in the Hilliard Comstock Northwest Community Park around 8:30 p.m. April 2.

Connor Bundock, a 19-year-old Santa Rosa resident, was fatally shot when he and his friends were approached by two strangers who made “gang challenges,” police said.

The pair fled and police are looking for witnesses who were at the park that night.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.