A 25-year-old woman was reportedly strangled to death in North Seattle on Sunday by a man who had been staying in the same residence as her.

The young woman's death is the fifth case of homicide this year in Seattle. And even though Seattle is still on track to have the lowest numbers of homicides since the early 1940s, there has been an increase in aggravated assaults, 70 percent of which are domestic violence cases.

According to the girl's mother, her daughter and the suspect were at the home at around 12:30 Sunday morning, along with two other adults. Police, the victim and a child had slept in a bedroom, while the two other adults slept in the living room. The nature of the relationship between the suspect and the victim was not indicated by sources.

The victim and the suspect had apparently been arguing when the suspect grabbed the victim's neck and strangled her. He then stole her car and drove south until the vehicle was disabled by a flat tire.

Seattle police arrested the 43-year-old suspect on Tuesday morning, and he appeared in King County court on Wednesday afternoon. Prosecutors were set to charge or release the man by Friday.

The two adults apparently woke up around six o'clock in the morning and found the suspect to be gone and saw that the victim was dead. According to the Medical Examiner's office, she was strangled to death.

As this story indicates, domestic violence is a serious problem with potentially serious consequences.

Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer, "Woman killed in North Seattle identified," 22 June 2011.