Police have made an arrest in the fatal assault of a woman in an apartment building elevator and they say that there is a “sexual assault component” to their investigation.

The 66-year-old victim was found with obvious head trauma after officers were dispatched to a building near Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West at around 6:45 p.m. on Friday for an unknown trouble call.

She was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead some time later.

Police later identified the victim as Margaret Cameron, of Toronto.

Meanwhile a suspect, identified as 49-year-old Karl Hoyes, was taken into custody shortly after midnight. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the woman’s death.

“We are looking at a number of motives, one of them being a sexual assault component. We are still very early, we are less than 24 hours in but it is something we are looking into,” Det. Sgt. Rob North told reporters on Saturday morning.

North said that the suspect and the victim may have “had a loose circle of friends” and could have had some “very minor interaction” previously but were not otherwise known to one another.

The victim lived in the building, he said, while the suspect had previously lived in the building some time ago.

As for the quick resolution to the case, North credited some video surveillance footage that 12 Division officers found early in the investigation.

“They conducted an immediate canvas, including a video canvas, and Mr. Hoyes was quickly identified, we confirmed his identity and then due to public safety we then immediately gathered further resources from the Gun and Gang Task Force and Major Crime Unit to attempt to locate him,” he said.

71st homicide of 2019

The homicide is Toronto’s 71st of 2019 and North described the circumstances as “completely unacceptable and tragic.”

He said that while police believe that the homicide is an “isolated incident,” it nonetheless should serve as a reminder “to be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

“It was 6:45 p.m. in the evening, so there would be a lot of people around. That is why I am making the request to anybody with information about this incident or Mr. Hoyes to contact us,” he said.