San Diego

A recently fired employee of a Linda Vista businesswoman who was found stuffed in the trunk of her car was arrested hours later in the slaying, police said Wednesday.

Troy Lee Washington, a 22-year-old Linda Vista resident, was arrested at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in an interview with homicide detectives at central police headquarters, Sgt. Jerry Callaway said. Washington was held in County Jail and will be charged with the murder of Deborah Barksdale, the 38-year-old owner of Barksdale Office Planning, Callaway said.

Barksdale’s half-nude body was discovered by police at 9:33 a.m. Tuesday in her garage in the 1500 block of North Rim Court. Police had gone to the woman’s condominium at the request of employees who became concerned when she did not arrive at work for the second day in a row.

The coroner’s office Wednesday determined that Barksdale had been strangled.

Callaway said homicide detectives received several leads Tuesday that prompted them to bring Washington in for questioning, but he would not go into details.