Mother says her son killed girlfriend

Officials released the name Wednesday of an Auburn woman who was reportedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend in the backseat of a car driven by the suspect's mother.Eileen Pelt, approximately 21 years old, was reportedly stabbed at least one time in the neck by her boyfriend sometime Monday afternoon. Officer Dale Eubanks of the Lodi Police Department said that a woman came into the department around 8 p.m. Monday and reported that her son, David Paradiso, 26, of Stockton, murdered his girlfriend. He was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into San Joaquin County Jail where he is being held without bail."We suspect the stabbing took place a couple of hours before that," Eubanks said.Officials said that Paradiso's mother was driving a 2005 Chrysler 300 through a back alley in Lodi with Paradiso and Pelt in the backseat."Just how many times he stabbed her we don't know," Eubanks said. "But from what I saw it was at least one to the neck. He used a military-style Kbar knife."After Paradiso reportedly killed his victim, he ordered his mother, whose name has not been released by officials, to drive to Amador County where he dumped Pelt's body near the town of Pioneer."The suspect and his mother returned to Lodi, at which time the suspect took his mother's car and said he was leaving," Eubanks said.Authorities located Paradiso in Rio Vista and following a high-speed chase from Rio Vista through Lodi at speeds in excess of 100 mph arrested the suspect after the car's tire blew out.Paradiso's mother is not suspected of any wrongdoing. Officials declined to identify her saying she is a victim because her son kidnapped her.Paradiso was arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, vehicle theft and a violation of parole. He reportedly has a criminal record, but officials declined to provide details.The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com.