Funeral services were pending Saturday for a 53-year-old woman who was viciously attacked nearly two months ago near the Venice Canals.
Sarah Alden had been in a coma since the April 6 attack, and she was declared brain-dead on Monday. Friends said she was taken off life support on Friday, after her organs were harvested for donation.
Alden was one of two women who were attacked near the canals on April 6. The alleged assailant, Anthony Francisco Jones, 29, was arrested in San Diego last month and charged with two counts of forcible rape and one count each of sexual penetration by use of force, mayhem, torture, attempted murder and sodomy by use of force.
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With Alden's death, Jones could potentially face a murder charge.
The second victim, 54-year-old Mary Klein, remains in a hospital with several bruises. Due to the beating that she suffered, doctors were forced to wire her jaw shut.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the first attack occurred about 10:30 p.m. April 6 in the 2700 block of Strongs Drive, where Alden was approached from behind and struck with a blunt object, leaving her unconscious. The suspect similarly attacked Klein about an hour later as she was walking near the Sherman Canal.
Alden, a mother of two sons, was in the process of moving to Venice when she was attacked. According to a GoFundMe page established to help pay funeral expenses, she was planning to meet two close friends for breakfast on April 7 to tell them she was moving to the Los Angeles area from Massachusetts.
"She was a lover of sunrises on the east coast and sunsets on the west coast," a friend wrote on the page. "Sarah adored her two sons, her animals, and was blessed with a refined eye for vintage jewelry which she sold on roseark.com. At 53 years old, Sarah was looking to start a new chapter in her journey; to walk a new road. Instead, her life was violently taken from her."
The current charges against Jones include allegations that the crime was committed in the course of a kidnapping, targeted multiple victims and inflicted great bodily injury. Jones could face life in prison.
Jones was being held without bail and his next court date is June 11 at the Airport Branch Courthouse. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges
