Neven Glen Butler, 18, has been identified and arrested as the suspect in the brutal beating death of 86-year-old Fusako Petrus after he allegedly sexually assaulted her 61-year-old friend. Butler was arrested Friday while also being detained for an unrelated sexual assault of a 92-year-old woman close by. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Petrus is being hailed a hero by officials and neighbors after using a walking stick to try and fend off her friend’s attacker.

Brutally attacked on a morning walk in Sacramento

According to a statement by Sgt.

Tony Turnbull, the incident happened in the early morning on the running track at the Highlands High School in North Highlands, Sacramento. Petrus and her friend were enjoying a walk when her friend was attacked. Petrus attempted to protect her friend by hitting the teenager with a walking stick but ended up dying, brutally beaten by the suspect. Her unidentified friend was treated for injuries.

Teenager was ‘class clown’ and dropout

The LA Times quotes Zenobia Gerald, a spokeswoman for the Twin Rivers Unified School District, as saying Butler played football at the high school back in 2015.

However, he reportedly dropped out in December last year. The Sacramento Bee quotes a fellow student, Robert Hills, as saying the teenager was always known as the “class clown” and that he didn’t take his studies seriously. Hills has known Butler since the fourth grade and says he kept in touch when the teenager moved to another high school.

Linda Parisi is acting as defense attorney for Butler and told the LA Times she had only just received the case and so far had few details, adding that the case is more complicated than it seems.

Neighbors mourn 86-year-old woman

Neighbors are mourning Petrus and calling her a hero. Don Brown, who lives across the street from Petrus’ home, said it sounds like something Petrus would do, as she would help anyone. According to another neighbor, Lloyd Miller, 88, Petrus had met her husband in Japan after World War II and moved to the U.S. Miller said Petrus walked every day except Saturdays and he said he always worried about her. Miller added that Petrus’s husband passed away around 15 years ago, saying neighbors always helped each other out with everyday chores. Neighbors have reportedly set up a small shrine with flowers and candles in the driveway of Petrus’ home.

Miller said Petrus walked every day except Saturdays and he said he always worried about her.

Miller added that Petrus’s husband passed away around 15 years ago, saying neighbors always helped each other out with everyday chores. Neighbors have reportedly set up a small shrine with flowers and candles in the driveway of Petrus’ home.

92-year-old allegedly also brutally attacked by teenager

As reported by the Sacramento Bee, Butler was also questioned on Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of elder abuse after attacking a 92-year-old woman in the area. In that case, prosecutors allege the teenager inflicted “unjustifiable physical pain” on the woman. The woman was transported to hospital where she was treated to injuries to her face.

Meanwhile Butler is in custody on suspicion of murder and sexual assault and is being detained without bail. He will be making his first court appearance on Monday.
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