Update, Jan. 9: Friends and family have identified Friday’s homicide victim, found at a home on Ashby Avenue, as Berkeley resident Emilie Inman. Inman, who was 27, did not know her killer. Preliminary information reported below indicating she knew that person was incorrect.
Update, Jan. 7: The following story was updated Saturday, Jan. 7, to reflect additional information about the case.
A young woman from Berkeley was reported missing by alarmed friends and family after the Friday morning stabbing on Ashby Avenue that sent another woman to the hospital with significant injuries.
Police have confirmed two victims in the case, which marked Berkeley’s first homicide of 2017. One woman was stabbed and another person was killed, but police have not released that individual’s identity or any further description.
Don’t miss the latest update in the case.
A friend of missing woman Emilie Inman told Berkeleyside she was last seen Friday morning, and that friends and loved ones are concerned about her. And Inman’s sister posted on Facebook that Emilie was missing, and asked anyone with information to call.
Police would not comment Saturday about Emilie Inman, but two people — a friend and a relative — posted on Facebook to mourn her death.
And there are have been some indications linking Inman to the homicide case.
Friend Dave Slater told Berkeleyside on Friday that Inman had “a connection” to the primary suspect in the case but no further information was available. And police found a car registered to Inman in a driveway near a location police searched during the investigation.
Inman is an educator in the Bay Area, Slater said.
Authorities ask anyone with information about the case to call the Berkeley Police Department at 510-981-5900.
According to several hours of unconfirmed scanner recordings reviewed by Berkeleyside, a young woman in her early 20s flagged down a passer-by for help near Cloyne Court, a UC Berkeley student housing co-op at 2600 Ridge Road, just north of campus. The woman had been stabbed and was seriously injured. The call to police came in just after 11:40 a.m. Friday.
As it was described over the scanner, the woman — who is not Inman but whose identity has not been released — had been dropped off in the area after the assault on Ashby. She told police the person who stabbed her was still in the neighborhood. Police immediately began a search while the woman was taken to the hospital. Police have said she is in stable condition.
The injured woman, who lives in a UC Berkeley student co-op in the Southside, told police her attacker stayed in a UC Berkeley student co-op in the Northside. Police searched both locations but did not find the assailant, according to scanner traffic.
Police quickly zeroed in on the assault location, about 2 miles south of Cloyne Court in the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue near Florence Street, according to scanner traffic. Police searched a home and recovered evidence but did not find the assailant.
The door was wide open when police arrived. A Berkeley resident who passed through the area reported seeing a line of police tape across the whole parking area of a building on Ashby, with two or three BPD SUVs parked in front.
Police said it was not until “much later,” following the initial response, that officers found a body at that home.
Multiple vehicles were towed as evidence in connection with the case, according to scanner recordings, including vehicles belonging to both the stabbing victim and Inman.
Late Saturday afternoon, police announced the arrest of 22-year-old Pablo Gomez Jr., a Berkeley resident and UC Berkeley student. Burbank police told Berkeley investigators Gomez Jr. was in their custody and would be booked into the Los Angeles County jail system.
Local police have listed Gomez Jr.’s age as 24, but LA County jail records say the correct age is 22. Gomez Jr. is being held without bail.
Berkeleyside will continue to follow the story.
Have a question about a local public safety incident? Write to crime@berkeleyside.com. Photographs and videos are always appreciated. This story was updated after publication to reflect the preferred pronoun, according to a friend who contacted Berkeleyside, of the person identified by police as their primary suspect.
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