A 48-year-old man who told authorities where to find his girlfriend’s body, after he was arrested Monday night on suspicion of drunken driving, has been charged with murder, according to an East Palo Alto police detective.

The victim, Philomena Ashford-Anderson, 47, was found inside her East Palo Alto apartment at 45 Newell Road, Detective Angel Sanchez said. Her boyfriend, Richard Slaughter, stabbed Ashford-Anderson in the upper torso several times with a kitchen knife, Sanchez said.

Slaughter was arrested at about 9:20 p.m. near the corner of Broadway and Jefferson Avenue in Redwood City, after he crashed into two parked cars, according to Redwood City police.

He was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries, then booked into San Mateo County jail at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to East Palo Alto police.

While in jail, Slaughter told San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies that “he had some information about a body,” Sanchez told The Daily News.

“Hours later, at the jail, he said he had basically stabbed somebody and provided an address where we could find the victim,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said this was the first time he could remember when a person arrested for an unrelated charge admitted killing someone.

Police believe Ashford-Anderson was killed between 8 p.m. Monday and the time Slaughter crashed his vehicle, he added. Officers went to the apartment around 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to police. An autopsy is scheduled for today, Sanchez said.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Ashford-Anderson and Slaughter were dating at the time of the homicide and that he may have been living at her apartment, Sanchez said. While police believe they know the motive behind the murder, they’re keeping that information under wraps while they continue to investigate the crime, he said.

“We have a motive, we have an understanding of what led up to it and what caused it, but we’re not ready to release that information,” the detective said.

Family members standing outside Ashford-Anderson’s apartment Tuesday declined to talk about the victim or her relationship with Slaughter.

“Leave us to our grieving,” said a woman who claimed to be Ashford-Anderson’s sister.

East Palo Alto police are asking that anyone who witnessed or has information about the homicide call Detective Delbert Thomas at 650-798-5955, or contact the department anonymously through an email to epa@tipnow.org, or a text or voicemail to 650-409-6792.

Email Bonnie Eslinger at beslinger@dailynewsgroup.com; follow her at twitter.com/bonnieeslinger.