Section: News
Edition: Valley

rop
Page: N6
Source: BRAD A. GREENBERG
Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO -- Shayla Phillips spoke calmly as she told a 911 dispatcher that she was being followed by a vengeful ex-lover.

But as she sped around Northridge and North Hills last May -- unfamiliar territory for a girl from South Los Angeles -- Phillips grew anxious.
Her cell phone dropped the 911 call and when she redialed she frantically sought help from another dispatcher.

``I'm running out of gas and I can't stop and get gas because they are on my tail,'' Phillips, 22, said, according to a recording of the call played Tuesday in San Fernando Superior Court.

``Can you get to the police station?'' the dispatcher asked.

``I'm trying but I'm running out of gas.''

Moments later, Phillips, who had been driving at up to 100 mph, plowed through a red light at Roscoe and Reseda boulevards and slammed into a full-size truck. She died within minutes, and a firefighter on his way to work spent the next 3 1/2 weeks in a coma.

Lakaysha Redd, the 17-year-old ex-girlfriend Phillips told police she was fleeing, is charged with her murder and eight other felonies. She has pleaded not guilty.

Her preliminary hearing, which began Tuesday and should be completed today, shed some light on the minutes before Phillips died -- and the months leading up to that day.

Police said Lakaysha's vehicle was behind Phillips' and that she slowed down as she approached Reseda Boulevard and avoided the high-speed collision. Then she turned right and drove home, they said.