A San Dimas woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murdering her 77-year-old mother-in-law, whose remains were found inside an SUV in Orange County hours after fire crews doused a blaze at the victim’s Diamond Bar home.
Un Young Lee, 42, is charged with killing Young Ja Lee between March 23 and March 25.
The investigation began after Los Angeles County fire crews responded around 1:30 a.m. March 25 to a fire at a home in the 1200 block of North Diamond Bar Boulevard. Fire crews searched the home after dousing the flames and did not find anyone inside, and arson investigators were called to try to determine how the blaze started.
Investigators received a tip that a woman may have killed the female resident of the home and driven away with the woman’s body.
Un Young Lee was arrested after being stopped around 8 a.m. at the intersection of Tustin Ranch Road and Greenway Drive in Tustin. The older woman’s remains were found inside bags that were in the SUV, sheriff’s officials said.
According to the prosecution, the victim died of sudden cardiac arrest after suffering a head injury “during a physical altercation.”
The defendant is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. She is due back in a Pomona courtroom on Nov. 24, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require her to stand trial.
If convicted as charged, she faces a possible maximum life sentence in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
— Wire reports