Junko Hanafusa: California woman beaten to death on college campus by homeless sledgehammer-wielding man

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TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA: A California woman was killed by a man wielding a sledgehammer on a college campus as she walked her dog and collected recyclables.

Junko Hanafusa, 65, was attacked on Sunday, December 24, around 7 am near the gymnasium building on El Camino College's campus in Torrance.

Junko Hanafusa attacked on college campus

Jeffery Davis, 40, allegedly took a sledgehammer to Hanfusa before he fled the scene, as per Daily Mail. 

At that moment, someone nearby noticed the unconscious woman with her head bleeding. After being brought to the hospital, Hanafusa died the next day.

The official cause of death will later be announced by a medical examiner, as per reports.

Since then, Davis has been taken into custody and is not being released on bond, as per the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Inmate Information Centre.

An assault was reported, and authorities were sent to the school.

When they got there, they saw Hanafusa outside the school's gymnasium, still in pain from her wounds.

The woman was viciously abused, but her dog stuck by her side, according to KTLA.

Neighbors mourn Junko Hanafusa's death

A neighbor Leslie Anderson told KTLA, ''It's devastating. It's gut-wrenching. I'm still in shock. Our dogs became friends so they would play together and we would talk. Just the sweetest woman." 

After surveillance footage was reviewed, campus police identified Davis as the suspect.

''The person that we had an idea of who was on the security footage is, we believe, a homeless person we've had contact with before,'' Sgt Francisco Esqueda of El Camino College Police said.

Davis was later discovered by police in a neighboring park, where they had previously seen him.

Davis had nine prior arrests for misdemeanors and felonies in nearby municipalities, according to the records.

Hanafusa was rumored by several locals to walk her dog and gather recyclables from various locations in the town.

Recalling their contacts with her and her dog, Cherry, one resident blogged about her on Next Door, ''My husband and I walked to her house yesterday to drop off a gift and was greeted by Junko’s sister who informed us that Junko had been attacked at ECC by a transient on Sunday,'' they said in the post, as per Daily Mail.