150820_EL-Chatsworth Murder

A man was found dead under suspicious circumstances early Thursday at a transitional housing facility in Chatsworth and police were treating the death as an apparent homicide.

The man in his 40s was found dead by firefighters around 2:30 a.m. in a unit inside a building in the 10300 block of De Soto Ave., according to the LAPD.

Firefighters called police after noticing significant bruising to the man’s body, consistent with ‘blunt force trauma,’ police said.

Relatives of the dead man, who declined to give their names, said he was the caretaker or manager of the building, and the tenants included people with mental disabilities or who were recently released from prison.