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The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department has identified the 21-year-old victim in a suspected homicide case last month as San Ramon resident and University of California, Santa Cruz student Zainab Mansoor.
Mansoor was reportedly found unconscious at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz on Feb. 23, after which she was transported to a local emergency room and placed on life support before succumbing to her injuries.
Police were first alerted to the incident when Samuel Stone — a 20-year-old former UCSC student who had romantic ties to Mansoor according to an announcement from the sheriff’s office — called to alert them that he was “somehow involved” in a homicide that had just occurred early that morning.
Stone was arrested when police responded to the scene and found him next to an unconscious Mansoor at approximately 1:16 a.m. on Feb. 23., and is now facing criminal charges as a suspect in the case
UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive issued a statement about the incident on Feb. 26, sharing the news that the victim in the Feb. 23 homicide was a student at the university and noting that the suspect was also a former student. She said she was declining to share Mansoor’s name at the family’s request.
“News of this crime is deeply unsettling, and we are doing all we can to support those in our community affected by this senseless tragedy,” Larive said.
An SRVUSD spokesperson declined to confirm whether or not Mansoor had been a student in the district, or offer any additional comment, citing district policy.
Stone remains in custody and is facing a murder charge as well as two other felony charges for the incident. He was scheduled for arraignment hearings on Feb. 27 and Feb. 29, with a continued arraignment hearing set for March 13 at 8:15 a.m. in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.