Woman found unconscious in parking lot identified

Coroner: ‘An overdose is suspected, but we won’t know for sure for at least three months’

Investigators have identified the woman who died shortly after being found unconscious in a shopping center parking lot Sunday as 22-year-old Krista Gamboa, of Santa Clarita.

Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said investigators had contacted family members of the deceased woman Thursday.

An autopsy is still to be done, he said.

“An overdose is suspected, but we won’t know for sure for at least three months,” Smith said, noting the time it takes for the lab to get the results of toxicology tests.

Gamboa was found at the corner of Magic Mountain Parkway and McBean Parkway. She died a short time later at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

First responders arrived at the River Oaks Shopping Center after receiving a call at 5:21 p.m. Sunday about an unconscious woman, according to Capt. Michael Fuentes of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“We received a report that there was a medical emergency in the parking lot of the Valencia Target,” Lt. Andrew Dahring of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station said Sunday.

The circumstances behind the woman’s arrival to that location remain unknown.

Sheriff’s deputies on the scene said there is no known threat to public safety in connection to their investigation.

Cory Rubin/The Signal (See additional photos at signalscv.com) Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies canvas an area of a parking lot inside the River Oaks Shopping Center following the death of a woman.