Sheriff’s deputies arrested the former mother-in-law of Jarrod Davidson, the UCSB graduate student who was shot to death last July, in connection with his murder.

Police arrested 49-year-old Malinda Jones on Thursday morning at her home in Grover Beach.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Pappas said Jones, the mother of Davidson’s former wife, was charged with homicide after investigators found evidence linking her to Davidson’s death at the scene of the crime. Pappas said he could not comment on the nature of the evidence due to the ongoing status of the case.

Jones is currently being held without bail at San Luis Obispo County Jail and is awaiting transfer to Santa Barbara County Jail. She will likely be arraigned early next week, Pappas said.

A second search warrant, Pappas said, was served to the Oceano house of Davidson’s ex-wife, who, to date, has not been charged in the case.

A 27-year-old teaching assistant in organic chemistry, Davidson was shot in front of his Goleta apartment on July 9, 2004, and died en route to the hospital. Witnesses reported seeing two suspects, a male and female, fleeing the scene of the crime.

Davidson is survived by his four-year-old daughter, who he had with his former wife.

In October 2004, Crime Stoppers of Santa Barbara offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Pappas said the investigation is ongoing, and that the reward money is still available to anyone with information. All callers, he said, will be kept anonymous.

“This is a homicide case and an absolutely brutal murder,” Pappas said. “We have aggressively pursued this case and will continue to do so throughout the investigation.”

Anyone with information regarding the Davidson homicide can call 1-800-877-9100.