A coroner Monday identified James Edson Gillis, 87, of Castaic, as the victim of a stabbing at 31963 Emerald Lane.

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His daughter, Denise Ann Gillis, 48, of Castaic, lived at the Stonegate housing community home with her dad, said neighbors who frequently watched the woman walk her large dog.

The younger Gillis was booked on a murder charge around noon the day of her father’s death, according to Sheriff’s Department officials.

Gillis was taken into custody Friday morning after her father was found stabbed to death.

Related: Castaic Woman Arrested As Suspect In Stabbing Murder

A medical examiner with the Coroner’s Office is expected to make the official determination today after an autopsy.

“The information we have right now is that we was a victim of an assault — a stabbing,” said Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. “This came in as an apparent homicide.”

An official with the Homicide Bureau of the Sheriff’s Department confirmed the death was being investigated as a stabbing murder.

A “suspicious death” was reported Friday at 9:15 a.m. on the 31900 block of Emerald Lane, in a small residential community called Stonegate.

Gillis was taken into custody around 10:30 a.m., according to Sheriff’s Department records and a neighbor who saw her placed in handcuffs in front of the home.

From a previous story:

Ruth Seeder, a 17-year resident of the Stonegate neighborhood said it’s “very unusual” for a suspicious death to happen in the neighborhood.

“I walk around here at night all the time,” she said. “We all kind of look out for one another.”

Seeder said a younger woman and an older man lived in the house, and the woman was frequently seen walking her dog.

Another neighbor described Gillis’ behavior in the days before the arrest as “erratic” and worrisome.

The murder is the Santa Clarita Valley’s second homicide in 2014.

Related: UPDATE: Suspected Santa Clarita Stabbing Murder Could Be Gang Related

The first murder was the Jan. 10 stabbing death of Jose Eduardo Ocampo, who was killed on the 18100 block of Sundowner Way in Canyon Country.

No arrests have been made in that crime.

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