San Diego ( Homicide - Woman found mortally wounded in Lemon Grove ) See story

Woman mortally wounded in Lemon Grove

LEMON GROVE — Sheriff's detectives are investigating their first homicide of 2013 following the death of a woman who was found with head injuries on a Lemon Grove street early Thursday.

Deputies were going to drive a prisoner to the downtown San Diego jail about 2 a.m. when they noticed a woman lying in the roadway on Pacific Avenue at Olive Street, homicide Lt. Glenn Giannantonio said.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 30s, had head injuries but was conscious, Giannantonio said. She was in front of an apartment complex parking area.

Giannantonio said investigators believe they know who the woman was, but they were withholding her name until it was confirmed and her family was notified.

Paramedics took the woman to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest, where she died at 2:37 a.m., Giannantonio said. He declined to say whether the woman made any statements before she died.

He said the case is his agency's first homicide of the new year.

Deputies found one shell casing not far from the woman, but Giannantonio said it wasn't clear if it was connected to the homicide or came from a gun fired some other time. He did not say what caused the woman's head injuries.

The lieutenant said investigators don't know when the woman was wounded or how long she had been lying in the road. They were going door-to-door through the morning, looking for witnesses and security camera video.

The street is lined with a mix of houses, apartments and small businesses around the corner from the Lemon Grove sheriff's substation.