The suspect in the murder of 61-year-old Carole Marie Brooks on Sunday in Santa Rosa died yesterday while being pursued by police. 46-year-old John Quincy Ellis of Stockton, whose relationship to Brooks is unclear, was the prime suspect in the case, and police had closed in on him around 8:20 a.m. Monday in Stockton. He was driving a rented vehicle, and police were in pursuit on I-5 when Ellis pulled over and challenged the cops to shoot him.

When they did not, he ran in front of a passing big rig, in what appears to have been a suicide. He died at the scene.

Neighbors of Brooks reported hearing a single gunshot and a scream on Sunday afternoon, and witnessed a man leaving Brooks' apartment in a silver car. She later emerged from her home clutching a towel to her abdomen, where she was shot. She succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. Police obviously had a lead on her killer (and she likely identified him). The Press-Democrat is reporting that the motive is believed to have been attempted robbery, and they have some further gruesome details about the scene on I-5.

[Chron]
[Press-Dem]
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