Teacher Fatally Stabbed in Orizaba Park

By City News Service

A 53-year-old teacher was stabbed to death Friday in a Long Beach park where she was helping supervise students from a nearby elementary school and officers quickly arrested the father of the woman's grandchildren in connection with the killing, police said.

Kelleye Taylor of Long Beach was stabbed in the upper body around 1:30 p.m. in Orizaba Park, at the intersection of Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue, said Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

A short time later, suspect Steven Brown, 50, of Long Beach was arrested at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Redondo Avenue, a few blocks from the private Huntington Academy, Eaton said.

A weapon was recovered between the park and where Brown was taken into custody, he said, without specifying what kind of weapon it was.

Investigators learned Brown allegedly walked up behind Taylor and stabbed her before fleeing the scene, Eaton said.

The woman was stabbed in the neck, her sister, Pamela Huffman, told the Press-Telegram.

Taylor was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Eaton said.

Some of the children ran to the school and reported the stabbing to Huffman, whose family owns and operates the school, the Press-Telegram reported.

"How could they do something like this in front of these babies," Huffman told the newspaper. "All I could do was run to her. I saw her slip away. I knew she wasn't going to make it."

When the crime happened, other teachers took students back to the school while one remained to provide first aid to Taylor, Eaton said.

The motive for the killing was under investigation.

"There are some reports that there were some custody issues with (Brown's) children but I can't confirm that," Eaton said, adding that he did not know how many children Brown and the victim's daughter had together.

Counselors will be at the school on Monday to help students and staff, Huffman told the Press-Telegram.