Suspect in Metro subway stabbing in San Fernando Valley is charged with murder

A man suspected of fatally stabbing a woman on a Metro B (Red) Line train in the Studio City area — and who has a prior conviction for attacking someone on a Metro train — was charged Wednesday with murder.

Elliott Tramel Nowden, 45, was also charged with first-degree robbery in connection with the attack that occurred around 5 a.m. Monday on the train between North Hollywood and Universal City. District Attorney George Gascón said the murder charge includes a special circumstance allegation of murder during a robbery, opening Nowden to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted as charged.

Nowden was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, but Gascón said prosecutors were asking him to be held without bail. He was expected to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment Wednesday, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

PREVIOUSLY: Woman fatally stabbed at Metro station in Studio City; suspect arrested

Police said the victim — 66-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz — had boarded the downtown-bound train at the nearby North Hollywood station and was stabbed in an apparently unprovoked attack. She managed to exit the train when it arrived at the Universal City Station on the 3900 block of Lankershim Boulevard in Studio City, where she was found mortally wounded on the platform.

She was taken to a hospital, where she later died.

According to a GoFundMe page created by her nephew, Arauz was a mother of three and grandmother of four. Family members said she worked as a night security guard at a Tommy’s hamburger restaurant in North Hills.

Nowden was arrested about 30 minutes after the stabbing near Ventura Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to the GoFundMe page, Arauz died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after she was “viciously attacked on the commute home after work on the Metro train at Universal City station.”

“We have more questions than answers at this point,” Alex Castillo wrote on the page. “The suspect is in custody and charged with murder. While we await justice for our aunt, our biggest priority is giving her a proper burial at home in Nicaragua. All funds raised will go directly to funeral expenses, including the cost of transporting her remains from the US to Nicaragua which we anticipate being the biggest hardship on the immediate family. I will be using the funds raised for the expenses that need to be taken care of in the United States, and any remaining amount will be wired to Mirna’s daughters in Nicaragua.”

He added: “While we appreciate the first responders that tried to save her life, we hope that Mirna’s death does not go unnoticed and results in real change to the public safety efforts in the area. It’s a tragedy for the immigrant community of Los Angeles and for all that rely on the Metro to get home safe. We will not rest until justice is served.”

According to Los Angeles Superior Court records, Nowden pleaded no contest in June 2019 to battering a passenger on a Metro train. Details of the crime were not immediately available. He was ordered to spend five days in jail and three years on probation — during which he was barred from boarding or riding any Metro trains.

In November 2019, he pleaded no contest to an assault with a deadly weapon charge and was sentenced to four years in prison, court records show.

Nowden also has a previous petty theft conviction from 2003 which landed him on two years probation.

During Tuesday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, two board members voiced concerns about the death and asked Interim Chief Dominic Choi what steps the department is taking to improve security at that station and on the B Line.

In particular, commissioners Rasha Shields and Maria Lou Calanche expressed concern for early morning commuters who are often low-income workers.

“It sounds like we had made a lot of progress in making Metro safer recently, and it’s unfortunate that this type of event really pushed the department back a lot and makes people feel less safe boarding Metro,” Shields said.

Choi said the department and Metro increased its presence by deploying more officers and ambassadors at the San Fernando Valley stations. The interim chief noted that police can’t “be everywhere all the time.” But spreading out, engaging and communicating with Metro and riders can help improve a sense of safety, he added.

It also lets them know that LAPD “takes safety, public safety, seriously and that we are aligned with Metro’s mission and goals on safety,” Choi said.

Choi said LAPD’s transit service team is in communication with Metro’s leadership on how to best increase security presence and make sure officers are deployed during early morning hours.

“This incident is extremely, extremely tragic,” Choi said. “It’s not just about the numbers (of attacks on transit) that we’ve talked about before, but it’s about the feeling of safety.”

If increasing LAPD’s presence on Metro’s system helps prevent crime, that’s something the department and Metro will discuss, he added. LAPD, the Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are contracted with Metro to provide public safety services.

Police said they “strongly believe” Nowden may have victimized other people, and they urged anyone who believe they were targeted by him to come forward. Anyone who believes they were victimized or has information about the stabbing was urged to call 877-LAPD-247 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

The attack was the latest act of violence to plague the Metro transit system.

Last week, a Metro bus driver got into an altercation with a suspect who kicked in the glass door of the bus. The previous weekend, a male passenger was stabbed during an argument on a Metro bus in the Silver Lake area, and a suspect was taken into custody. Later that same day, a Metro bus driver was attacked near South Los Angeles area, with the suspect punching and stabbing the driver, sheriff’s officials said.