Sarah Alden, woman brutally beaten near Venice Canals, taken off life support
LOS ANGELES - One of the two women attacked last month while walking along the Venice Canals was taken off life support Friday night.
Friends of 53-year-old Sarah Alden describe her as a loving mother. Alden was visiting Venice from Massachusetts when she was violently attacked on April 6. According to a close friend, Alden was about to start renting a Venice property to live in for the next year.
"She [was] fun, outgoing, witty," said Cynthia King. "She is the most important person to me in my life. I really feel the void. I’m in a little bit of denial."
King describes herself as a close friend of Alden but more like a sister. She says her friend had wanted to live in Venice for some time.
"It’s still hard to believe she’s gone," said King. "You think that it can’t happen to you. It’s a horrific tragedy."
On Saturday, FOX 11 was the only media there when King met with the other victim from the attacks along the Venice canals, 54-year-old Mary Klein.
The caretaker was knocked unconscious and had her teeth knocked out while she was walking along the Canals. She believes she was attacked just moments before the same man violently beat up Alden.
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"I was almost beaten to death," said Klein. "She’s dead [after] walking in one of the nicest neighborhoods in LA. I feel a deep sense of connection with Sarah because she was a mother."
Klein has spent the last several weeks in and out of the hospital with serious injuries from the attack.
"This is how I fed myself for the last month," said Klein, holding a feeding tube. "Through my teeth that were knocked out by a mentally ill drugged person."
In the days following the two attacks, authorities located and arrested 29-year-old Anthony Jones in San Diego. Jones is charged with the crimes.
"People are going nuts, and the public is paying the price as usual, and it makes me mad," said Klein.
Since the night of the attack, Klein says she has been keeping track of similar cases in the Venice/Santa Monica area. Klein attributes the string of violence to what she describes as "soft on crime" politicians, mental health issues, and drug abuse.
Last week, a homeless person in Santa Monica was arrested after allegedly grabbing a jogger on the beach by her ponytail and dragging her towards a public restroom.
"Why are we paying taxes if the government is not doing their job for basic protection?" asked Klein. "This is not how we should be living. There are dead people every week because of this problem, and nobody is doing anything to protect us."
King says Alden’s family has hefty medical bills and expenses to cover finances relating to the attack. If you’d like to help the grieving family, tap or click here.
In addition, a fundraising page has been set up for Klein, who still has a long road to recovery and medical procedures ahead of her. You can visit her page here.
"Thank you so much for giving me a voice," said Klein. "I hope to God you don’t have any more people to interview that are getting killed out here on the streets and abused, but I think you’ll have another person in a week."