Photo via Pixabay

A man who allegedly acted as the getaway driver in a residential burglary involving two other ex-cons was charged Friday with murder for a crash that killed a 66-year-old motorist in Industry.

Anthony Marcel Quisenberry, 35, was allegedly behind the wheel of a black Chevrolet Camaro that struck a small SUV at the intersection of Gale Avenue and Johnson Drive about 3:50 p.m. Tuesday.

The SUV’s driver, Rojelio Gonzalez, of Downey, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Along with murder, Quisenberry is charged with one count each of first- degree residential burglary and assault upon a peace officer.

The criminal complaint alleges that Quisenberry has prior convictions for first-degree residential burglary in 2000 and 2005, identity theft in 2003 and conspiracy to commit a crime in 2005.

Two men who were allegedly in the Camaro with Quisenberry — Charles Archer Allen, 32, of Hawthorne and Michael Vincent Smyer, 26, of Los Angeles — are charged with one count each of first-degree residential burglary.

Prosecutors allege that Allen has prior convictions for second-degree commercial burglary in 2011 and identity theft and forgery in 2012, and that Smyer was previously convicted of first-degree residential burglary in 2014.

The three men bailed out of the vehicle after the crash, but were apprehended later by sheriff’s deputies, according to Deputy District Attorney Marie Cox.

Deputies from the sheriff’s Industry station had responded to a burglary in progress in the 15200 block of Folger Street in Hacienda Heights. Witnesses told deputies that two men were seen kicking in a neighbor’s door, while a third man waited across the street in a Chevrolet Camaro.

Deputies spotted the black Camaro near the intersection of Gale and Gatlin avenues and began chasing the vehicle, but broke off the pursuit because the Camaro was being driven into oncoming traffic. Soon after, the deputies were notified the car had crashed into an SUV, according to authorities.

Quisenberry, Allen and Smyer are set to be arraigned Wednesday at the Pomona courthouse.

If convicted as charged, Quisenberry could face up to 31 years to life in state prison, while Allen and Smyer face possible maximum terms of 14 years and 17 years, respectively, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service

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Police on Sunday were pretty sure a bloody scene in Panorama City where they found three dead bodies was a murder-suicide involving a domestic dispute, but they continued their investigation.

The shooting was reported at 7:23 p.m. Saturday at 8520 Cedros Avenue, a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Department‘s Mission Station said.

The case was under investigation as a domestic-related murder-suicide, the desk officer said. No other details were yet available about who fired the shots, the identifies of the killer or victims or what sparked the shooting tragedy.

A witness at the scene said in addition to the deaths, two wounded patients were taken away by ambulances to hospitals.

— From Staff and Wire Reports

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

A 31-year-old man was convicted Thursday of killing his brother’s ex-boyfriend in Sun Valley in what authorities said was a plot to collect on a $2.5 million life insurance payout.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about seven hours before finding Hachik “Kriss” Maskovian guilty of first-degree murder and attempted kidnapping for the April 24, 2013, killing of Joshua West, the 33-year-old man with whom his brother, Hovanes, had been involved in a long-term romantic relationship.

Jurors found true the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain, murder while lying in wait and murder during an attempted kidnapping, but rejected allegations that Hachik Maskovian personally discharged or used a handgun during the commission of the crime.

He is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, with sentencing set Aug. 26.

A separate jury heard the case against his older brother, Hovanes, 37, and reached a verdict that is scheduled to be read Friday morning.

Hovanes Maskovian — who also could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted — is charged with the same counts and special circumstance allegations, but prosecutors did not file any gun discharge or use allegations against him.

In his opening statement in the brothers’ trial, Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin called the attack on West “brutally horrific.”

“Joshua West would not go quickly and he would not go quietly,” Lewin told jurors, noting that a tire iron, a cutting instrument, a car and a gun were used to “finally silence his screams.”

West had broken up with Hovanes Maskovian — also known as John — but the two continued living together for financial reasons as Hovanes Maskovian’s bills continued to mount up, the prosecutor said.

“There is one bill that John will pay,” Lewin said, referring to life insurance policies that Hovanes Maskovian and West had applied for in 2009. Two life insurance policies were issued — $2.5 million on West’s life and $3.5 million on Hovanes Maskovian’s life. Hovanes Maskovian was the primary beneficiary on West’s policy, while the second beneficiary was the victim’s brother, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor called the evidence against the Maskovians “absolutely overwhelming,” noting that a pair of gloves found in a canyon about two miles from the murder scene tested positive for DNA linked to Hachik Maskovian and the victim.

Hovanes Maskovian’s attorney, Albert DeBlanc Jr., told jurors in his opening statement his client had “no intent to hurt Josh ever” and maintained that the two had a “close, loving relationship” and were still living together.

He said he believed the case would show that his client intended to rescue West.

“You’re going to know that my client John Maskovian is not guilty,” he said.

Hachik Maskovian’s attorney, Alex Kessel, told jurors, “My client had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with shooting the victim. Kriss did not conspire with anyone to kill the victim.”

He said his client and his older brother had separate lifestyles and that Hachik Maskovian had financially helped his brother in the past, but wasn’t particularly close to him.

Co-defendant Nazaret “Nick” Bayamdzhyan, 22, is awaiting trial separately in connection with the killing.

–City News Service

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Prosecutors may try it again starting next week after another jury deadlocked in a bizarre murder trial in which the defense argued the killer shot his victim with an assault rifle on purpose, while the prosecution said the killing was an accident.

In a reversal of roles usually expected in a murder case, the defense said the killer shot his accomplice in a convenience store holdup, and the shooting was justified because the defendant was forced into the robbery by the dead man.

Prosecutors argued the defendant knew full well what he was doing in the robbery and shot the victim, his accomplice, by accident when unsuccessfully targeting the convenience store owner.

It was the second jury to be deadlocked in the trial of the killer charged with murdering his alleged accomplice during a botched convenience store heist nearly two years ago in the El Sereno area.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Richman declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the murder count against Jose Alfredo Favela, 24, one day after the panel found him guilty of attempted robbery.

It marked the second time a jury had deadlocked on the murder count against Favela in connection with the July 18, 2014, death of his alleged accomplice, Jose Espidion, who was armed with a machete. The first jury to hear the case against him in March could not reach a verdict, either.

Favela was arrested the day of the shooting and has remained jailed without bail since then.

He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom next Tuesday for a pretrial hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Fernanda Barreto told jurors in Favela’s retrial that Favela — armed with a knockoff AK-47 assault rifle — was the one in charge when he and Espidion entered the store.

The prosecutor noted that the owner of the Meadow Maid Market testified that be bent down to block Espidion’s access to the cash register and that Favela then aimed at him, but the bullet struck Espidion instead.

“Even if the killing was unintentional, accidental or negligent” and even if Espidion was not the intended victim of the robbery, “the defendant is guilty of felony murder,” the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Lori Harris countered that Favela thought he was going with Espidion to pick up a load and be paid $70 and that Favela had objected while on the road when Espidion told him, “We’re going to do a robbery. We’re going to do a hold-up.”

Espidion threatened Favela, “pushed him into the store at machete point” and forced the gun into his hands, the defense lawyer told jurors.

Favela’s attorney said her client saw the storeowner struggling with Espidion and realized he had put his life in the hands of “a high, crazy, crazed, agitated stranger.” Frightened that Espidion was about to lose control, Facela “raised the gun up over Mr. Chun and fired directly at Mr. Espidion,” she said, maintaining that the shooting was “justified.”

–City News Service

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

A 37-year-old man was convicted Friday in the killing of his ex-boyfriend in Sun Valley in what authorities said was a plot to collect on a $2.5 million life insurance payout.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about seven hours before finding Hovanes “John” Maskovian guilty of first-degree murder and attempted kidnapping for the April 24, 2013, killing of Joshua West, 33.

Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder for financial gain, murder while lying in wait and murder during an attempted kidnapping.

Maskovian’s younger brother, Hachik “Kriss” Maskovian, 31, was convicted Thursday by a separate jury of the same charges, with the panel finding true the same special circumstance allegations. That jury rejected allegations that Hachik Maskovian personally discharged or used a handgun during the commission of the crime.

The two brothers — who are facing life in prison without the possibility of parole — are due back before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen for sentencing in late August.

In his opening statement in the brothers’ trial, Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin called the attack on West “brutally horrific.”

“Joshua West would not go quickly and he would not go quietly,” Lewin told jurors, noting that a tire iron, a cutting instrument, a car and a gun were used to “finally silence his screams.”

West had broken up with Hovanes Maskovian, but the two continued living together for financial reasons as Hovanes Maskovian’s bills continued to mount up, the prosecutor said.

“There is one bill that John will pay,” Lewin said, referring to life insurance policies that Hovanes Maskovian and West had applied for in 2009. Two life insurance policies were issued — $2.5 million on West’s life and $3.5 million on Hovanes Maskovian’s life. Hovanes Maskovian was the primary beneficiary on West’s policy, while the second beneficiary was the victim’s brother, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor called the evidence against the Maskovians “absolutely overwhelming,” noting that a pair of gloves found in a canyon about two miles from the murder scene tested positive for DNA linked to Hachik Maskovian and the victim.

Hovanes Maskovian’s attorney, Albert DeBlanc Jr., told jurors in his opening statement his client had “no intent to hurt Josh ever” and maintained that the two had a “close, loving relationship” and were still living together.

He said he believed the case would show that his client intended to rescue West.

“You’re going to know that my client John Maskovian is not guilty,” he said.

Hachik Maskovian’s attorney, Alex Kessel, told jurors, “My client had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with shooting the victim. Kriss did not conspire with anyone to kill the victim.”

He said his client and his older brother had separate lifestyles and that Hachik Maskovian had financially helped his brother in the past, but wasn’t particularly close to him.

Co-defendant Nazaret “Nick” Bayamdzhyan, 22, is awaiting trial separately in connection with the killing.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A state appeals court panel Friday upheld a man’s conviction for murdering three men, including two brothers, in a West Hollywood apartment during an apparent drug deal that went bad.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that “compelling circumstantial evidence” pointed to Harold Yong Park as the gunman who killed Pirooz Moussazadeh, 27, his older brother, 38-year-old Shahriar Moussazadeh, and Bernard Khalili, 27.

The three were each shot in the head Aug. 26, 2010, in an apartment in the 600 block of North Kings Road.

In a 27-page ruling, the appellate court justices noted that the most reasonable inference is that Park “robbed Pirooz at gunpoint, and then shot the three potential witnesses against him.”

Detectives determined that there were many phone calls to and from Pirooz Moussazadeh’s cell phone from a phone belonging to Park, according to the ruling.

“Numerous text messages to Pirooz indicated that defendant had been recently purchasing large quantities of marijuana from him, and that defendant and Pirooz had arranged to meet at Pirooz’s home on the night of the murders for defendant to make such a purchase,” the justices noted in the ruling.

The appellate court panel noted that at the time of his arrest a few days later Park had all of his clothing in his car, along with his birth certificate and passport photos, “suggesting he was preparing to flee the country, and suggesting a consciousness of guilt.”

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant who searched Park’s vehicle testified that he found a suitcase containing two large bags of marijuana that would have a street value of $40,000 to $50,000 if the drug was divided into smaller parcels, according to the ruling.

Park gave varying accounts to Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators about what happened, including his final account that he brought a handgun with him into the apartment, shot the men in the head after one of them smirked at him when he tried to negotiate with $2,000 in cash and took a bag of marijuana, the justices noted. He subsequently contended that he had confessed to crimes that he did not commit in an attempt to satisfy the detectives so he could leave the sheriff’s station, according to the ruling.

Park was convicted in September 2014 of three counts each of first- degree murder and residential robbery and one count each of burglary and transportation for sale of marijuana.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham — who heard the case after Park elected to have a non-jury trial — also found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder during a robbery and murder during a burglary.

Park was sentenced in November 2014 to three consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

–City News Service

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Photo courtesy of the Glendale Police Department

A teen-age woman who felt insulted was suspected of masterminding the killing of a 25-year-old Florida man whose body was found on the front lawn of a Glendale residence and three people have been arrested, police said Sunday.

Phillip Niles Jr., a Daytona Beach resident who moved to Los Angeles, was gunned down early Saturday in front of an apartment building in the 1700 block of north Verdugo Road, according to the Glendale Police Department.

The night before, the victim was out with friends and later came to the Verdugo Road apartment where one of his friends lived, police said.

They were joined by two female acquaintances they had met earlier that night, police said.

At 3:55 a.m. on Saturday, Niles Jr. stepped outside with the women at which time he was approached by two male suspects who knew one of the females, a statement read.

The men confronted Niles Jr. and shot him multiple times. He then ran a short distance and collapsed on the front of the lawn of a home in the 1600 block of Midway Street, police said. He died at the scene.

The two male suspects and the two women fled the scene in the same vehicle, according to police.

Detectives later arrested three of them out of a Comfort Inn Hotel in Monrovia, police said.

The male suspects were identified as 24-year-old Laquan Parker from Suisun and 26-year-old Brandon Perkins of Stockton. The woman was identified as 18-year-old Dezerea Lyons of Napa.

The second female who was friends with Lyons had no involvement and wanted to leave, but Parker and Perkins held her against her will in their hotel, police said.

Detectives said at some point during the night, Lyons felt insulted by comments made by Niles Jr. She threatened him and called Parker and Perkins, who later arrived and waited outside to confront the victims, detectives said.

Lyons allegedly orchestrated the attack, detectives said.

Lyons, Park and Perkins were all booked for murder and false imprisonment.

All three suspects are being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Detectives also recovered two handguns believed to be the murder weapons.

–City News Service

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Photo courtesy of the Glendale Police Department

Three suspects were behind bars Monday as a teen-age woman who felt insulted was believed to have sparked the killing of a 25-year-old Florida man whose body was found on the front lawn of a Glendale residence.

Phillip Niles Jr., a Daytona Beach resident who moved to Los Angeles, was gunned down early Saturday in front of an apartment building in the 1700 block of north Verdugo Road, according to the Glendale Police Department.

The night before, the victim was out with friends and later came to the Verdugo Road apartment where one of his friends lived, police said.

They were joined by two female acquaintances they had met earlier that night, police said.

At 3:55 a.m. on Saturday, Niles Jr. stepped outside with the women at which time he was approached by two male suspects who knew one of the females, a statement read.

The men confronted Niles Jr. and shot him multiple times. He then ran a short distance and collapsed on the front of the lawn of a home in the 1600 block of Midway Street, police said. He died at the scene.

The two male suspects and the two women fled the scene in the same vehicle, according to police.

Detectives later arrested three of them out of a Comfort Inn Hotel in Monrovia, police said.

The male suspects were identified as 24-year-old Laquan Parker from Suisun and 26-year-old Brandon Perkins of Stockton. The woman was identified as 18-year-old Dezerea Lyons of Napa.

The second female who was friends with Lyons had no involvement and wanted to leave, but Parker and Perkins held her against her will in their hotel, police said.

Detectives said at some point during the night, Lyons felt insulted by comments made by Niles Jr. She threatened him and called Parker and Perkins, who later arrived and waited outside to confront the victims, detectives said.

Lyons allegedly orchestrated the attack, detectives said.

Lyons, Park and Perkins were all booked for murder and false imprisonment.

All three suspects are being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Detectives also recovered two handguns believed to be the murder weapons.

–City News Service

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California Supreme Court building. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

The state Supreme Court Monday upheld the death sentence for a 62-year-old man convicted of the murder of a mom who surprised robbers of a Fountain Valley computer store as she went to pick up her son, as well as the later killing of a witness.

The high court, however, vacated special circumstance allegations of murder during a burglary and robbery for William Clinton Clark. It upheld other special circumstances of the killing of a witness, murder while lying in wait, and multiple murders.

Clark was convicted in the Oct. 18, 1991 fatal shooting of Kathy Lee during an attempted, takeover-style robbery of a CompUSA store in a Fountain Valley shopping center. The other murder was the ambush killing of Ardell Williams, a witness against Clark, who was killed in Gardena on March 13, 1994.

Co-defendant Nokkuwa Ervin was convicted of firing the fatal shot that killed Lee, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Co-defendant Antoinette Yancey was also convicted of murdering Williams and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Clark conspired with Yancey to kill Williams after she had testified to a grand jury about his participation in the CompUSA killing, according to prosecutors. Williams planned to testify against Clark at his trial.

Clark denied participating in either murder and presented an alibi at trial that he was at a recording studio in Glendale the night of the robbery- gone-bad.

Williams had gone along with Clark before the CompUSA caper to do surveillance on the store at the Fountain Valley Mall. Prosecutors argued at trial that a group of burglars went to the store at closing time and handcuffed two employees to a handrail in a bathroom, but Lee surprised them as she came into the business looking for her son, prompting Ervin to shoot her with a gun loaded with just one bullet.

Williams was lured to her death with a phony job interview set-up by someone claiming her name was Janet Jackson.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A man charged with killing a 79-year-old Hollywood woman nearly 44 years ago admitted to police that he killed a Santa Monica couple in 1980 and was involved in a series of burglaries at high-rise apartment complexes, according to a prosecutor, but a defense attorney said there is “reasonable doubt” about his involvement in the 1972 killing.

Harold Holman, 69, was taken from court in a wheelchair to a courtroom lockup to listen to the proceedings on a speaker after telling a judge he was “not going to be part of a media circus” — in an apparent reference to a TV camera being allowed in court for the start of his trial for Helen Meyler’s Aug. 27, 1972, bludgeoning death.

In her opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman told jurors Friday they would hear evidence that Holman admitted to Los Angeles police detectives during an interview in state prison in December 2014 that he had been involved in a series of other similar crimes, including the January 1980 bludgeoning deaths of 67-year-old Gertrude Forst and her 72-year-old husband, Otto, in their eighth-floor unit in a Santa Monica apartment building.

Holman acknowledged that he had “made a career out of being a high-rise burglar” in incidents in which law enforcement referred to the culprit as “Spider-Man,” Silverman told the nine-woman, three-man jury.

Holman was initially arrested in 1975 after an LAPD surveillance team that was looking into a series of high-rise residential burglaries watched him scale the outside of a 14-story apartment building and move from balcony to balcony, and he was in custody for several years before resuming his criminal activity, the prosecutor said.

Along with the killings of the Forsts, Holman was involved in two other break-ins in January 1980 — one in which he shot and killed a woman’s 12-year- old Dachshund and the other in which a woman locked herself in a bathroom and screamed for help, Silverman told jurors. The latter resulted in a manhunt in which a Santa Monica police K9 was called in to help Los Angeles police apprehend him, according to the prosecutor.

DNA evidence from a blanket found at the scene of Meyler’s killing was linked to Holman after the Los Angeles Police Department’s Cold Case unit re- opened an investigation into the crime, the prosecutor said.

The widow, who lived alone in a second-floor apartment in a secured building, was found dead in bed with a pillow covering her head, the prosecutor said. Meyler’s apartment had been ransacked, and her assailant had likely entered through a sliding-glass window, Silverman said.

Holman’s attorney, Robin L. Baessler, called it a “tragic case,” but urged jurors to keep an open mind about “whether or not there is reasonable doubt for the charged crime.”

She noted that Meyler was killed 44 years ago in a crime without any eyewitnesses and that Holman was never considered a suspect until LAPD cold case detectives re-opened the case.

The defense lawyer questioned whether Meyler’s killing was that similar to the other crimes.

“I will ask you to conclude that there is reasonable doubt in this case,” Baessler told jurors.

Holman was arrested last year in connection with Meyler’s killing. Jurors did not hear that he was serving a 45-year sentence at the time in connection with the killings of the Forsts and a string of high-rise residential burglaries in the 1980s, but did hear that he was in prison.

The prosecution’s first witness, LAPD Detective Richard Bengtson, testified that he went to a California prison where Holman was being held to collect a DNA sample from Holman in December 2014.

The defendant said during a prison interview with detectives that he had special shoes with suction cups on them and that he wore night-vision goggles during the burglaries, according to Bengtson. On cross-examination, the detective said he had never seen any references to either of those items in police reports about the other crimes.

Testimony in Holman’s trial is set to continue Tuesday.

If convicted, he faces up to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

A man convicted of attempted murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in San Pedro last year was sentenced Wednesday to a potential life prison term.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader — who called the victim’s injuries “horrendous” — ordered Giovanny Santiago-Enriquez, 39, to serve life in prison with a minimum parole date of seven years, and tacked on a four-year prison term.

“To me, it’s not really a classic heat of passion case,” the judge said, noting that the defendant knew his ex-girlfriend was with someone else.

Santiago-Enriquez entered his ex-girlfriend’s home through an unlocked front door, went into her bedroom and stabbed her new boyfriend multiple times early March 9, 2015, then threw the knife out of his car after he fled, authorities said.

Santiago-Enriquez’s ex-girlfriend suffered minor injuries trying to prevent him from stabbing her boyfriend, who was seriously injured.

Santiago-Enriquez fled to Mexico after the stabbing along with his year-old-son, of whom he had primary custody. About one week later Santiago-Enriquez was arrested when he tried to enter the country through the Otay Mesa border crossing.  Authorities discovered there was a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder.

Santiago-Enriquez was convicted April 22 of one count of attempted murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Jurors acquitted him of one count each of first-degree burglary, kidnapping and child custody deprivation — the latter two involving his son.

–City News Service 

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Redondo Beach police cruiser. Photo via code2high.com

A reputed gang member accused in a Redondo Beach gas- station shooting that left one man dead and another injured pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and attempted murder.

Erik Martinez, 19, is due back in court Aug. 31. His bail was set at more than $3 million, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The charges, which include gun and gang allegations, stem from the 4 p.m. June 16 shooting at an Arco gas station at the intersection of Inglewood and Marine avenues.

Witnesses said the victims seemed to know the shooter, according to Redondo Beach Police Lt. Fabian Saucedo.

Mike Cortez-Marquez, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics rushed the other shooting victim to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and he survived. Prosecutors said Cortez-Marquez was shot in the head and back, while the other man was shot in the stomach.

Martinez was arrested after detectives spotted him at about 8 p.m. the day after the shooting in the area of Daisy Avenue and 10th Street in Long Beach, according to Redondo Beach police.

He faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted.

–City News Service

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Photo by Gustavo Castillo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The shootings, all committed with a .45-caliber handgun, occurred between June 9 and 27, with the last resulting in a graze wound to a male victim’s head, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

No one was struck by gunfire in the five previous shootings, most of which involved shots being fired at moving vehicles, police said.

“The LAPD Northeast Area Gang Enforcement Detail and Gang Impact Team detectives developed intelligence that focused on the gang possibly responsible for the series of shootings,” according to police.

About 11:15 p.m. June 27, three males in a parking lot in the 1400 block of Glendale Boulevard were approached by four men between 20 and 30 years old, one of whom was armed with a handgun, police said.

“Words were exchanged between the two groups, which was followed quickly by gunshots,” police said. “One of the victims suffered a grazing gunshot to the head, which was non-life-threatening. The victims and the suspects all fled the area.”

An investigation by Northeast Station patrol officers led to the detention of a possible suspect and Northeast Area Gang Impact Team detectives were able to positively identify the four suspects from the shooting, according to the LAPD.

“The shooter, Christopher Meza, and Benjamin Orellana, both gang members, were arrested,” police said. “A search warrant was served on Meza’s residence and a .45 caliber handgun, the same caliber as the evidence that was recovered at each of the six shooting scenes, was recovered. Preliminary forensic analysis has potentially linked all of the shootings.”

Both men were arrested June 28 and are facing three counts of attempted murder, police said.

Meza, 26, was being held in lieu of $3.24 million bail at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles and Orellana, 22, was being held in lieu of $3.09 million at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. Both are due in court in downtown Los Angeles on July 13, according to sheriff’s online jail records.

“Gang detectives are conducting additional follow-up investigation with the victims and reviewing video evidence that would enable the District Attorney’s Office to consider filing charges on the two outstanding suspects,” according to the LAPD.

Anyone with information that could help investigators was urged to call Lt. John Cook at (323) 561-3335.

After-hours or weekend calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7. Anonymous tips can be provided through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222- TIPS.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

Three men have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of a man who allegedly conspired with one of the trio to rob a body shop owner in Long Beach.

Luis Orozco, 37, Shawn Verrette, 43, and Frank Ervin, 54, were convicted last Dec. 17 of one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Jurors also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a robbery.

The victim, Franklin Robles, conspired with Orozco to rob a body shop owner in Long Beach, but Orozco instead plotted with Ervin and Verrette to rob and kill Robles, according to Deputy District Attorney Karen Brako.

Robles arrived at the body shop Aug. 9, 2010, and waited for Orozco, but Verrette and Ervin appeared at the site, got out of their vehicle and fatally shot Robles, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

After the killing, Orozco, Verrette and Ervin went to Robles’ home and stole his property, according to the prosecutor.

The three — who were sentenced by Judge James D. Otto on Thursday — have remained jailed since they were arrested in 2011.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

Parole has been denied to a man from Anaheim who was convicted in the 1993 fatal shooting of his brother-in-law, who had disciplined his own daughters for dressing in gang attire.

Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez of the Special Prosecutions Unit attended a hearing to oppose parole for Octavio Garcia Zetina, according to Roxi Fyad of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

“Before denying the inmate’s parole, the board took into consideration Zetina’s violent history, the circumstances of the murder and lack of insight and his prison rules violations,” Fyad said.

Zetina, 47, is next eligible for parole in 2019 after his failed hearing Wednesday.

Zetina is imprisoned at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. He was convicted of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the use of a firearm and was sentenced May 5, 1995, to 20 years to life in state prison, Fyad said.

Zetina was 24 and on probation for a domestic violence conviction on Feb. 14, 1993 — Valentines Day — when he killed Jose Alvarenga, whose daughters had told Zetina that their father had pushed their mother, the inmate’s sister, out of the way when attempted to intervene while Alvarenga was arguing with his daughters for dressing in gang attire, Fyad said.

Zetina became upset and later that day, while attending a birthday party for the victim’s 1-year-old son, he shot and killed Alvarenga, a married father of three, Fyad said.

“The inmate told the victim, ‘I told you not to hit my sister. I’m going to kill you,’ before shooting the victim five times, the last shot at point-blank range to the victim’s eye while the victim was on the ground as a result of the four prior gunshot wounds,” Fyad said.

“Zetina killed Alvarenga in front of the victim’s children at the birthday party with other children present while Alvarenga was unarmed and helpless.”

Fyad said that three years before the killing “a drunken Zetina grabbed the mother of two of his children by the hair, hit her in the face and dragged her on her knees across the street to a curb, where he then kicked her in the face.”

Zetina told responding officers that he was going to kill the woman, Fyad said.

A year before that incident, Zetina called police to report that he had pulled a knife on his wife, and that she had been accidentally cut when she grabbed for the blade.

–City News Service

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These dancing shoes were probably not in the Shoe Lady’s collection. Photo via Pixabay

The Shoe Lady’s killer  — a boyfriend filled with “anger and rage” who “just lost it” — was sentenced Friday to 16-years-to life in prison.

The murdered “Shoe Lady,” also referred to as the “Queen of Sole,” had amassed a collection of 16,000 shoes and footwear items worth about $500,000, according to published reports. The possessions included heels, sneakers, boots, stockings and even pillows shaped as shoes. She had a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006.

The 32-year-old probationer who used a baseball bat to beat to death his 58-year-old girlfriend — the well- known footwear collector — attacked the woman after she kicked him out of her Menifee home. Menifee is a small city in southwest Riverside County near the I-215 freeway and north of Murrieta and Temecula.

A Riverside jury had in May already convicted Justin Charles Smith of second-degree murder with a sentence-enhancing weapon allegation for the 2013 beating death of Darlene Flynn.

Flynn and Smith had been profiled together months before the fatal attack in a television program showcasing her footwear collection.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael Donner Friday imposed the sentence required by law after considering victim impact statements from Flynn’s loved ones.

Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction, but Smith maintained that he did not intend to kill Flynn and was not in control of himself when he pummeled her with a Louisville slugger baseball bat on the afternoon of July 22, 2013.

Among the evidence submitted by his attorneys was a tape-recorded conversation between the defendant and a deputy who arrested him a short time after the attack.

“I don’t remember what happened,” Smith told the lawman. “I just lost it. It was like anger and rage. When it was all done and over with, I just didn’t realize what I did.”

The recording revealed that Smith and Flynn had gotten into an argument the day before about his failure to repay her $50 for fueling his pickup truck to help a friend move.

“She totally lost it (when the money wasn’t returned),” Smith says on the tape. “She started pounding me in the chest with her fists. She threw Tupperware at me from the kitchen. I asked her to calm down, and we went to bed.”

The two slept separately, and the next day, Flynn’s emotions flared again as he slept in, according to the defendant.

“She started shoving me down the hallway, saying ‘you’re an idiot, you’re garbage, get out,’ ” Smith said. “She was making me feel like a bad guy. She always was saying I was stupid and didn’t learn. I have a learning disability from a head injury.”

The defendant had a 2012 misdemeanor conviction for grand theft, which prosecutors said was the result of him selling Flynn’s car without her permission.

Smith told deputies that he was preparing to leave the single-story ranch home at 28875 Stone Lane when he was overcome with rage.

According to the prosecution, as Flynn sat down to relax in her backyard swimming pool, the defendant grabbed the bat, which he said had been left in a corner of the living room for self-defense. He then confronted the victim, sparking another argument that culminated with him striking her four to six times in the head and face, according to trial testimony.

Neighbors heard the commotion and called 911. Deputies arrived a few minutes later and spotted a shirtless Smith standing near the pool.

When he saw the law enforcement officers, the defendant fled. He was located that afternoon wandering along a road, where he was arrested without incident.

A medical examiner testified that Flynn had received “blunt force injuries (with) enough power … to break her skull.”

–Staff and wire reports

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A police cruiser. Photo by John Schreiber.

A Palmdale man is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on murder and other charges stemming from a crash last month that killed a 2-year-old girl and two women just outside Lancaster, near Edwards Air Force Base.

Eric Deshawn Johnson, 37, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury, along with a misdemeanor count of driving when his driving privilege was revoked or suspended.

The charges stem from the June 19 deaths of 2-year-old Anaya Clayton, and Michelle Maxie, 36, both of Arizona, and Maisha Garrett, 37, of Paramount, who were passengers in his Ford Explorer when it crashed into a Honda Accord near Avenue D and the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway.

The Accord’s driver was injured in the crash, but survived, said Deputy District Attorney Sun Chung.

Johnson was arrested the same day by California Highway Patrol and has remained in custody since then. He faces up to 45 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A 29-year-old man already serving a life sentence for a Las Vegas murder was Monday handed another life term without the possibility of parole for killing one man and shooting another at a San Gabriel restaurant in 2008.

Xioaye Bai was convicted May 27 of first-degree murder and attempted murder for the Southland crime. Jurors also found true a gun allegation and Bai admitted that he had been convicted of another murder.

Bai got into an argument on Dec. 4, 2008, with several men at the restaurant and shot 21-year-old Zhe Li nine times. A second victim who was shot by Bai survived his injuries, Deputy District Attorney Theodore Swanson said.

Following the San Gabriel shooting, Bai fled to Las Vegas, where he stabbed several people and killed another man, according to the prosecutor.

In 2012, Bai was convicted in Las Vegas of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He was later transferred to Los Angeles County to stand trial.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

A 30-year-old woman was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life in prison for murdering a male friend in Carson last summer.

Vershonda Charisse Sneed had been convicted May 12 of first-degree murder for the June 25, 2015 killing of Bobby King. The victim was shot eight times by Sneed, according to authorities.

A charge of being an accessory after the fact was dismissed against co- defendant Tyshonda Marie Powell after jurors deadlocked and told the judge they were unable to reach a verdict. Prosecutors had alleged that Powell, Sneed’s girlfriend, was with Sneed as she waited for King.

Sneed and the 34-year-old victim had been very good friends, but tension had developed between the two, according to Deputy District Attorney Shannon Cooley.

Sneed went to a friend’s home, then shot King eight times as he arrived at the house, according to the prosecutor. King died at a hospital, and Sneed was arrested the same day.

–City News Service 

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Luke Matthew Fabela. Photo via La Verne Police Department Facebook page.

A jailed convict already behind bars for another crime pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the possible death-penalty bludgeoning murders of an 89-year-old man and his 74- year-old wife at their multimillion-dollar home near La Verne the day after Christmas in 2014.

Luke Matthew Fabela — who authorities said last year was linked to the killings through DNA while he was serving a jail term in San Bernardino for auto theft — was charged in February with two counts of murder and one count each of second-degree robbery and first-degree residential burglary in the deaths of  Armie “Troy” Isom and his wife, Shirley.

The murder charges against Fabela, 24, include the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders during the commission of a robbery — the only item taken was Shirley Isom’s cell phone, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue the death penalty.

The victims were found by a groundskeeper at their multimillion-dollar home abutting open land in an unincorporated area near La Verne. Both died of blunt force trauma and Shirley Isom sustained “sharp force trauma,” according to Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef.

While Fabela was jailed in San Bernardino for an auto theft case, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials announced last May that he had been linked by DNA to the killings and that he would serve his term in San Bernardino before being sent to Los Angeles County.

He is due back in court Oct. 18 in Pomona. He remains jailed without bail.

–City News Service 

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