Ex-Boyfriend Faces Murder Charges

A woman who was allegedly beaten by her ex-boyfriend a week ago has died from her injuries and the ex-boyfriend now faces murder charges, police said Friday.

A friend found Lynda Sullo, a 50-year-old Granada Hills resident, crumpled on her living room floor March 28, according to Los Angeles Police Det. Mike Oppelt. Sullo had apparently been punched and kicked many times and was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills with serious head and facial injuries, police said.

Three days later, police arrested Martin Zahorik as he was riding a bike in Northridge. Zahorik, a 49-year-old handyman, had been living with Sullo, but she had recently broken up with him and asked him to leave, Oppelt said.

Zahorik was initially booked on suspicion of attempted murder. After Sullo died Thursday at the hospital the district attorney’s office said it upgraded Zahorik’s charges to murder. He has remained in custody since March 31 and is being held without bail, said Victoria Pipkin, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

“A domestic violence situation like this is an especially ugly death,” said Capt. John Egan, of LAPD’s Devonshire Division, which is handling the case.