Man charged with killing South L.A. man who was found inside a refrigerator

A 57-year-old man has been charged in the strangling of another man and leaving his body inside a refrigerator in South Los Angeles late last year, authorities said.

Steven Dale Fleener was charged Monday with one count of murder, according to Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Two workers cleaning out an apartment in Vermont-Slauson on Nov. 10 found the body of Felix Potter, 41, inside a refrigerator, police said.

Potter, who was in the process of being evicted, lived at the apartment for about two years.

LAPD Det. Chris Barling said that Potter and Fleener knew each other.

Based on witness statements and other evidence, police focused on Fleener early on in the investigation. By December, authorities had identified Fleener as a suspect, and he was already in custody on an unrelated charge.

Fleener is a white man, according to online Sheriff's Department records.

No others are suspected of being involved in the killing, Barling said.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @nicolesantacruz and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.