Flor Medrano, 30 [Updated]

Flor Medrano, a 30-year-old Latina, was fatally stabbed Thursday, Nov. 12, in the 1300 block of Cochran Avenue in Mid-Wilshire. Medrano had filed a domestic abuse report earlier that day, and she was attacked as Los Angeles Police Department officers waited outside of her apartment.

Her attacker, Daniel Carlon, a 23-year-old Latino, was shot and killed by police officers who went to investigate when they heard screams coming from the apartment.

Times' reporters Baxter Holmes, Andrew Blankstein and Rich Connell have the full story: Man eludes police to kill woman

Los Angeles police investigators are trying to piece together how a highly determined attacker eluded officers watching a Mid-City apartment and managed to kill a woman who had just filed a domestic violence complaint.

Wilshire Division officers who specialize in domestic abuse were on the lookout for the man after taking Flor Medrano's report, counseling her and returning her to her Cochran Avenue apartment Wednesday evening.

The officers escorted Medrano, 30, to her door, checked to make sure the apartment appeared safe and then returned to their unmarked patrol car to watch for the suspect, officials said.

The officers later tried to check on Medrano via cellphone and tell her they were leaving but were cut off. When they reestablished contact and heard screaming, the officers rushed to the apartment and saw a man stabbing Medrano.

Unable to gain entry through a metal security door, the officers fired through a front window, fatally wounding the attacker, according to police sources who asked not to be named because of the ongoing investigation.

-- Anthony Pesce

[Update: LAPD questions a crucial mistake]

Photo: A woman who said she is Flor Medrano's friend weeps while talking on the phone as police investigate Medrano's death and the police shooting death of the man who killed her. Medrano had filed a domestic abuse report several hours earlier. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times