There was a story this morning on KABC about a group of parents banding together against "Urban Terrorism" in hopes of creating a reward fund and solving the murders of their children.

It got me thinking about the Sammantha Salas murder investigation in Monrovia and whether or not a possible reward offering will bring her killers to justice. Its something to think about -- thus the poll. Any thoughts?

It's nice to see that the Sheriff's homicide bureau and Mike Antonovich's office finally agree that a reward should be offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sammantha Salas' killers.

Salas was killed Jan. 26 and by my math that makes five months of investigation without a resolution. Homicide detectives felt that incremental releases of information and ultimately the reward would keep publicity in the case from waning. Based on the story's position Friday in our most viewed stories list, it appears that they were right about sustaining publicity in the case.

The supes will still have to vote on the reward. It's should be on **Wednesday's agenda,** but hasn't been added yet, i'll keep monitoring that.

6:05 p.m. Friday **Antonovich's flack, Tony Bell, tells me that the Supes meet Wednesday instead of Tuesday next week in deference to Tuesday's primary election.**

As for the two being sought, the electronic files containing two composite drawings of men* sought in connection with the Salas case and another shooting are named ... 

Whatever happened to the unnamed victim in this story, it sure sounds ugly. Thank God the feds are keeping on eye on suspicious cops in southeast LA County. No one else seems to care.

Here's the top of Ruby Gonzales' story:

LOS ANGELES - A former Bell police officer and Pico Rivera resident was arrested Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman after a 2007 traffic stop.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Feliciano Sanchez, 33, on one count of depriving the woman of her civil rights under color of law and one count of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.

FBI agents took Sanchez into custody Thursday and he appeared in the afternoon in federal court. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center without bail and will be arraigned Monday on the charges, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tammy C. Spertus.

Sanchez's attorney, Ira Salzman, could not be reached for comment.

Please welcome Brian Day to Crime Scene. He's the newspapers' night cop reporter and as plugged in as anyone I know when it comes to crime in the SGV.

Brian, who is two decades and two years younger than me, will be posting stuff that I can't get to and other stuff he thinks is relevant.

He likes Monday Night Raw, plays the guitar, smokes Marlboro reds, wears boxers, eats at Pizza Hut and In-N--Out  almost exclusively, and attends Cal State Fullerton where he's studying Journalism.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects in the Jan. 26 shooting death of Sammantha Salas, Supervisor Mike Antonovich's spokesman Tony Bell told me this morning.

The reward will be voted on this coming Tuesday, Bell said.

Bell had been discussing the case with Lt. Dan Rosenberg of Sheriff's homicide,. it was Rosenbverg who made the decision to offer the reward. The hope is that nearly five months after Salas was shot to death in front of an apartment in an unincorporated portion of Monrovia, that someone will come forward with information in the case, Rosenberg said.

Here's the Star-news Web page, with details of the ongoing violence in Monrovia.

And here's the text from a press release put out by Judy Hammond the county's PIO:

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Samantha Salas, a 16-year old youth.
 
On Saturday, January 26, 2008, Ms. Salas was fatally shot while walking with a friend, on the 2500 block of Peck Road near Longden Avenue in the unincorporated area of Monrovia, after being approached by two male suspects on foot. 
 
The two suspects are described as African-American in their 20's, wearing dark colored bandanas or hooded sweatshirts, and members of the Du Rock Crips gang.

The Los Angeles County Sherriff's Homicide Bureau is seeking information to assist in their investigation.  Supervisor Antonovich encourages witnesses of this crime or anyone with information to contact the Lt. Dan Rosenberg at the Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5580.

 

These blurbs come from the City News Service wire. They are written in an easy-to-read format for radio. I've supplied links to related content:

1. A former Bell police officer is due in a federal courtroom in downtown L- A this afternoon on charges of forcing a woman to have sex with him following a traffic stop just over a year ago. 33-year-old Feliciano Sanchez of Pico Rivera is accused of stopping the woman in Bell last May, then driving her to a remote location and forcing her to perform a sex act.
2. Meanwhile ... a Bell High School teacher is being accused of having sex with a 17-year-old female student. 37-year-old Alex Diaz was arrested May 21st on suspicion of having sex with a minor. Diaz and the teen were allegedly caught in the back seat of a car in a Carson parking lot. He's out of custody on 20-thousand-dollars bail.

A anonymous neighbor apparently overheard the aftermath of a stabbing that occurred in Rosemead Memorial weekend. He sent a letter to reporter Dan Abendschein, who passed the letter on to me:

Detective,

I don't know if these tips will help.  I heard people
indistinctly talking and yelling for about 10 mins.
After that a woman was outside the backyard crying for
quite a while.  A man was also at the back yard
telling the crying woman "he is dead."  About 5 mins
later the emergency crew came and I saw about several
police officers entering the back door, and I can hear
the man telling the officers "he is not breathing."

Earlier that day about 11:30pm to about mid-night, I
got home and saw a hispanic man about 5ft 8-9in,
180-185 lbs walking north on Buron Ave.  He was
wearing a t-shirt and jeans, sort of grey or white.  I
didn't get a clear look at his face.  He was staring
at me while walking by.  I thought he was suspicious;
however, he wasn't in a hurry or anything.  Also, it
was dark.  I hope this will help.

Sincerely,
Anonymous neighbor

Officials haven't reported a break in the case -- or the other weekend homicide, that of Frank Montes in Covina.

I've heard so many different versions of this story today that my head is spinning. City News Service got bad information early from Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau and it spread like a virus through local news outlets.

As an example, KFI had to contend with a deputy at the SHB that was completely unfamiliar with the case. There's a whole story to be told about the decimation of SHB, but I'll save that for another day

In KFI's case the result was that Eric Leonard's story alluded to five men being named suspects in the case. In fact it's two men, one teen boy and two teen girls.

KNBC did a nice job with the wanted part of the story but left out the particulars about the other arrests. (They also used a lot of SGV Tribune copy to round out their tale -- thanks KNBC)

Here's AP's first story as it moved:

Date: 05/28/2008 11:45 PM

BC-CA--911 Killing/160
Eds: APNewsNow.
4 teens arrested, 5th sought for murder during 911 call

After my encounter in Los Feliz Monday night, I've seen other accounts of Coyotes making their way into urban environments over the past several days. Including this one on LA Now.

Photographer Watchara Phomicinda had an encounter of his own today. Right on the Irwindale, Baldwin Park West Covina border. Here's his caption:

A coyote walks on an empty lot along Azusa Canyon Road near Olive
Street in Irwindale on Wednesday, May 28, 2008. (SGVN/Staff photo by
Watchara Phomicinda/SVCity)

A few months back we had a meeting with police officials from Baldwin Park and they mentioned that the city had a problem with members of the El Monte Flores gang in their city.

There are already two gangs and a tagging crew that lay claim to the city, so having members of a fourth undoubtedly makes for some headaches.

Turns out that EMF may reach all the way into Covina, at least that's what sheriff's deputies are telling us in the wake of arrests in the Michelle Chien murder case.

Here's a little history of gangs in the SGV courtesy of a site that calls itself "Gangland Express."

Regarding EMF:

El Monte is an old barrio and home to the famous El Monte dance hall wich is gone now. That is were alot of the pachucos' idols would sing songs like, Earth Angel, Night Owl, 18 with a bullet, Duke of Earl, and Sitting in the Park. It is also home to El Monte Flores. This is one of the largest gangs from the SGV, and most spread out.

Text below is from the Sheriff's wanted poster:

On March 19, 2008 (Wednesday) at 1140 hours, Victim Michelle Hsu was shot and killed by intruders in her Covina Hills home.

The victim was on the telephone with a 911 operator when the suspects killed her to avoid capture and arrest.

After a lengthy investigation, detectives have identified Suspect Victor Manuel Maurtua as one of five suspects involved in the murder.

Suspect Maurtua is a known El Monte Flores gang member and was last known to frequent the Baldwin Park area.

*Update: City News Service has finally picked up on this (even though they had a copy of our story since Saturday). But what's being reported is wrong. The Sheriff's Information Bureau told CNS that there are no other suspects identified and no arrests have been made. CNS is working to correct their report.

Of the suspected killers, only one is believed to have been a gang member. Christopher Santana, 19, of Covina is believed to have been a member of the El Monte Flores gang, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg.

The girls, Christine Alegre, 16, and Megali Fernandez, 17 are both from West Covina.

" We were very surprised that we were looking at two females, two teenaged girls," Rosenberg said.

Five persons have been charged in the March murder of Michelle Chien, aka Hsia Hong Hsu.

Here's an excerpt of the charge sheet from the DAs office:

BOOKING BAIL CUSTODY
DEFENDANT CII NO. DOB NO. RECOM'D R'TN DATE

SANTANA, CHRISTOPHER KEVIN  NO BAIL
MAURTUA, VICTOR MANUEL         NO BAIL
STRATIS, CHRISTOPHER               NO BAIL
ALEGRE, CHRISTINE                     NO BAIL
FERNANDEZ, MEGALI                   NO BAIL

 You can see the DAs indictment on the jump

All are looking at potential death sentences. Maurtua remains at large.

*All this information jibes with a story we published Saturday indicating the arrests had ocurred.

This from the U.S. Attorney's office:

A San Gabriel Valley man was indicted today for allegedly using
social networking sites on the Internet to convince high school-age girls to have sex with him and pose for pornographic pictures.

Gregory Scott Serrano, 33, of Monrovia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of production of child
pornography, using the Internet to entice minors to produce child
pornography and to meet for sex, receipt of child pornography,
possession of child pornography and attempted destruction of evidence.

The indictment lists 10 teenage girls as victims. However, authorities believe there are other girls who may have been victimized by Serrano.

The investigation into Serrano began in March after a 15-year-old girl reported that Serrano had taken pornographic photographs of her. According to court documents, Serrano posed as a 19-year-old and contacted the teenager after reading her profile on netlog.com and MySpace.com. After courting her via emails and cellular telephone conversations, Serrano pressed the teenager to meet him in person.

Some of serrano's usernames included: Greg Scott, Purein10citi, citigreg1116, serranogreg, and latinoload1116.

*Serrano is charged with 23 counts in state court and 22 federal counts. Bail in the case has been set at $820,000. He's residing at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.

*Here's what Serrano listed on his resume at LinkedIn.com

Gregory Serrano's Experience

• Owner

  Primerica Financial Services

  (Public Company; Financial Services industry)

  Currently holds this position

• Culinary Delivery Specialist

Chili's Grill and Bar

(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; eat; Restaurants industry)

1994 -- 2001 (7 years)

**Here's an excerpt from the 

SAFE_-_Serrano_indictment.pdf: 

Beginning in or about January 2007, and continuing until in or about March 12, 2008, in Los Angeles County, within the Central District of California, and elsewhere, defendant GREGORY SCOTT SERRANO knowingly used a facility of interstate commerce, namely, the Internet and the telephone, to attempt to persuade, induce, and entice an individual who had not attained the age of 18 years, namely, S.A., a 13 and then 14-year-old girl, to engage in a sexual activity for which a person could be charged with a criminal offense, namely, lewd acts on a child, in violation of California Penal Code Section 288(C)(1), and production of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a). 

***Here's some of Greg Serrano's Web sites:

WIndows live here.

MySpace here.

Friendster here.

LinkedIn here. 

****Netlog site here.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed Tuesday to postpone a preliminary hearing for a woman accused of killing her husband and two children.

The move is one of several delays in the case since Man-ling Williams was arrested in connection with slaying of her husband Neal and children Ian and Devon. 

This small note comes from Jan WIlliams, mother of Neal grandmother of Ian and Devon. Jan attends each hearing in the case and reports to Crime Scene readers on the state of the case:

At a hearing today it was determined that they need to set another date in order to set a date for the preliminary.  Next check in hearing date is June 26.  Jan

My comment: Sounds like something from the court of the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland.

Former Pomona teacher Steven Petralia is set to be sentenced in Superior Court *tomorrow.

A wrong way crash on the Southbound 605 kills a driver.  Just minutes before the accident, Anissa Rivera, our "Mom's the word" blogger describes her family's close call.

APU students are causing a parking problem in the neighborhood.

The search for more Manson Family victims at Barker Ranch in Inyo was a big zip.

Sheriff's Department about to release more information in the March slaying of a Covina Hills woman who was on the phone with 9-1-1 when she was shot to death.

This is one fat coyote. Believe it or not he was prowling Los Feliz Monday night at the intersection of North New Hampshire and Finley Avenue.

I pretty sure he had at least one friend, but the other coyote was sneakier and didn't want his picture taken.

Now I know why there's no stray cats in the neighborhood. I'd been wondering recently what happened to  this crazy homeless woman that hangs out nearby. She must be smarter than I thought. Who wants to sleep outside with these guys on the prowl? 

Apparently this has been reported before on an Atwater Village blog and may be fall out from the Griffith Park fire.

As for other sightings, coyotes make regular appearances in Arcadia. This from a city Web page dealing with animal control:

There are regular sightings of coyotes in the foothill areas of Arcadia, and along the horse trail and wash.  Residents should report sightings wherein a coyote seems to be unusually aggressive, sick or injured to the Pasadena Humane Society at 792-7151, extension 110, or to the Arcadia Police Department at 574-5150.

 

Reporter Caroline An encountered these two dogs on Woodland Avenue Saturday as she was reporting on the Sierra Madre mudslides. An told me she didn't even notice the dogs at first, but was instead "transfixed" by some nearby spring flowers.

Here's her description of the photo:

Two lovely, cuddly dogs kept watch on Woodland Avenue Saturday morning. One of the streets affected by mudsliudes and hail that occurred Thursday. 

We call it the "breakfast test."

It's a really simple test and applies to stories that have a certain gore factor.

Here's the rule: If you are writing something for the newspaper that you wouldn't want to read over a bowl of Cheerios, find a way to make it more palatable.

The rule applies to photos too, and ultimately makes for some interesting decisions. I've been thinking about the breakfast test for the better part of the last week, especially after seeing a pair of brutal photographs and reviewing a video of a child molestation.

The photos depicted dead bodies.

One was a picture of Glenn Patrick Rose, who was shot to death on May 13 after a confrontation with Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers. The shooting occurred in an alleyway off First Avenue in Covina just north of Puente Avenue.

Investigators left Rose's body uncovered for several hours after the shooting. Reporter Amanda Baumfeld and photographer Walt Mancini each took several disturbing pictures of the scene.

Both said later it was nearly impossible to photograph the investigation without getting a picture of Rose's body. Investigators said they left the body uncovered because they didn't think any children would happen across the scene.

Mancini ultimately came up with a photo of several police cars blocking a garage that served as our illustration of the story in the next day's newspaper.

The second series of photos came from reporter Brian Day, who used a point-and-shoot to get photos from a crime scene in the 1100 block of North Stimpson Avenue in La Puente.

Day's photos depicted the body of Gabriel Guzman Martinez, 19, who was dragged to his death on May 18 by a runaway pick-up truck. The next day, Day returned to the scene and grabbed some photos of a memorial to Martinez. Ultimately we used those to illustrate the story.

I did alter one of Day's photos and posted it on the Crime Scene blog. There I asked for reader input. Here's a reader's comment on that post:

"Altered it slightly? It's an entirely different picture without the body. Imagine if photos from every battle since the Civil War were altered, we'd never know what really happened, their history would be in question," wrote someone identified as "Patrick." "A journalistic photo should be shown exactly the way it was taken, unaltered. If you don't want to offend anyone don't show the picture."

As for the videotaped molestation, it occurred inside a bookstore at the Santa Anita mall in Arcadia. A man, identified by police as registered sex offender Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 33, of San Gabriel can be seen in the tape sizing up a young girl several times prior to the molestation.

Again, Brian Day wrote the story; here's how he described the attack:

"Elizondo is suspected of 'touching his exposed genitals up against a young female child' ... , according to Arcadia police Lt. Ron Buckholtz."

Several minutes later, I viewed the videotape and a handful of screen captures that accompanied it on a disc provided by the Arcadia Police Department.

Based on what I read in Day's story, I elected not to put the video on the Internet even though it was not visibly explicit.

I learned later that several local television news outlets chose to air the video. Perhaps they didn't know the details, but it didn't pass my breakfast test.

View Larger Map

From Reporter Dan Abendschein:

ROSEMEAD-- A Rosemead man was stabbed to death in his home early Monday morning.

Alfonso Castro, 51, was found by police after someone made a 911 call requesting help at his home, said Sheriff's Deputy Denise Fuchs.

The stabbing occurred around 12:30 a.m. at Castro's home in the 3200 block of Burton Avenue, said Fuchs. Castro was found with multiple stab wounds to the upper torso.

The home showed signs of forced entry, but Fuchs said police do not yet know if killing happened as part of a home-invasion robbery or if the killers had other motives.

I love checking out Google's street view maps especially looking at places I'm familiar with.

Apparently it's an actual craze. According to Fox News, people actually hunt the maps for bizarre images.

Here's their story ... if you've found an interesting image in the SGV or Whittier you'd like to share, post a link in the comments section. I'll put all the links together in a post later today (that is if there are any).

A 20-year-old man was stabbed to death Saturday night behind a Covina apartment complex. Detectives have little information, no suspects or motives. Here's an excerpt:

COVINA - A local man was found stabbed to death late Saturday behind a Covina Boulevard apartment complex, authorities said. Frank Montes, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a call reporting a fight about 9:30 p.m. in the 19500 block of Covina Boulevard in an unincorporated county area near Covina when they found Montes suffering from multiple stab wounds, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra.

Montes was pronounced dead at 9:45 p.m. in a parking lot, MacWillie said.

COVINA - A man and teen were arrested late Saturday on suspicion of tagging 22 different locations on Azusa Avenue, police said.
Adrian Mejia, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, whose name was not released due to his age, were arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and possession of vandalism tools, said Covina police Sgt. Gregg Peterson. Both are from El Monte.
Both admitted to the graffiti, which totalled nearly $2,000 in damage, Peterson said.
The suspected taggers were arrested about 9:30 p.m. in the 900 block of North Azusa Avenue after scrawling graffiti on a business in plain view of a police officer, Peterson said.
Both admitted to the graffiti spree, he added.
Mejia is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail, Peterson said, and the juvenile was cited and released to his parents. 

Happy birthday to Dylan, who turned 67 on Saturday. Some of his jokes are even older than that. Personally, I think they're a scream, but even if most of you disagree, I expect Ontario politicos Paul Leon and Gary Ovitt will be repeating them for years.
"I got a friend who's learning to become a ballerina. She's improving by leaps and bounds."
"Getting married's a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain't so hot."
"I once had a cross-eyed teacher who couldn't control his pupils."
"You know, I sleep at the edge of the bed. It doesn't take long for me to drop off."
"Two dogs talking. One says to the other: `You're crazy. You ought to go see a psychiatrist.' The other dog says: `I'd love to, but I'm not allowed on the couch."'
"I was having dinner with our announcer, Pierre Mancini. The only difference between Pierre Mancini and a canoe is that sometimes a canoe will tip."

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. He was 86.
Martin, who went on to become one of television's busiest directors after splitting with Dan Rowan in the late 1970s, died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said.
"He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago," Greenberg said.
Martin had lost the use of one of his lungs as a teenager, and needed supplemental oxygen for most of the day in his later years.
He was surrounded by family and friends when he died just after 6 p.m., Greenberg said.
"Laugh-in," which debuted in January 1968, was unlike any comedy-variety show before it. Rather than relying on a series of tightly scripted song-and-dance segments, it offered up a steady, almost stream-of-consciousness run of non-sequitur jokes, political satire and madhouse antics from a cast of talented young actors and comedians that also included Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and announcer Gary Owens.

As for the photo caption:

** FILE ** This Oct. 1968 file photo shows comedians Dan Rowan, left, and Dick Martin, hosts of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" flanking then Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon during a rally at Burbank Calif. Richard Nixon, running for president in 1968, dropped in on the show to shout a befuddled sounding, "Sock it to me!" His opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was offered equal time but declined because his handlers thought it would appear undignified. Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. He was 86. (AP Photo, File)

Watching TV news Friday night after the Laker game and Friday night Smack Down, I caught this police pursuit and tried to to catch some screen caps like the one on left with my telephone.

Apparently someone named derboti was thinking the same thing and uploaded some shots of the chase to Flickr. Not sure if he watched the Laker game or Smackdown.

In any event, his post also discusses the finer points of being an Angelino:

 As I opened the window I heard another helicopter. I went to the other side of my room to see another helicopter. While I was getting my camera, I thought that two helicopters above my heads, between an oil refinery and an airport, are.. well,.. a little bit uncomforting. I tried to snap a picture, but didn't have my zoom lens attached. The two helicopters are now standing in the air. Uh-oh.

I keep watching the helicopters. Wait, there's a third one! And there's a fourth! Holy crap, there's five! At this point I'm walking back and forth to the window with a mixed feeling of sensationalism and uncertainty about what to do. I see that one of the five is flying quite low and has a spotlight directed down.

And it was then that I remembered what the Angelinos' most favorite pastime is: watching car chases.

Officials at Sierra Madre City Hall declared a state of emergency and planned to seek state and federal assistance to cope with mudslides flowing through neighborhoods that had been assaulted by wildfires less than a month ago.
"At this point the mud has not flowed into people's homes," said Sierra Madre City Manager Elaine Aguilar, who added voluntary evacuations had been declared for residents along Woodland and Skyland drives.
But many ignored the evacuation requests and chose to stay and weather the torrential rains that fell on the area Thursday and Friday, hoping that the runoff from the denuded hillsides would be contained to the streets.
John Stillman said at one point Thursday the mud had reached up to the hood of his white Honda Accord in front of his Skyland Drive home. Down the street, a neighbor's pool was flooded with the brown, sticky stuff.
"I hardly got it out," said Stillman of his car. He chose to stay put as city crews worked until early Friday using a skip-loader to clear the mud flows in front of his home.

Sources close to the investigation told me earlier this week that three teens have been arrested in connection with the slaying of Michele Chien, a.k.a Hsiao Hsu, at a home in the Covina Hills on March 19 this year.

The motive for the slaying more and more appears to have been a burglary gone bad.

Law enforcement sources said the gunman is still being sought.

Here's most of the story that will appear in tomorrow's newspaper:

Authorities have arrested three teens in connection with the slaying of a Covina Hills woman shot to death while on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator, sources close to the investigation said Friday.
Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dan Rosenberg acknowledged that arrests have been made in the slaying, but declined to provide more specific information.
"We got some arrests," Rosenberg said. "But I have to talk to my detectives about what we put out beyond that. They want to put a flier out, and they are waiting to get everything lined up."
At least one of the teens is a resident of Azusa, the sources said. Other law enforcement sources said the teens were linked to the crime by a van that was reported leaving the scene.
The suspected gunman remains at large, the sources said.
Hsiao Hong Hsu, 45, also known as Michelle Chien, was shot to death March 19 while on the phone with a dispatcher to report a break in.
Hsu was shot as many as five times, authorities said. Two shots occurred while Hsu was on the phone.
The gunman shot her three more times while chasing her through her home in the 19700 block of Cameron Avenue in an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County known as the Covina Hills, authorities said.
California law requires police to identify suspects booked into jail except when they are juveniles. The same provisions of public records law allow police to withhold the names of suspects who have been arrested and released without charges being filed.
Rosenberg would not say if either provision of the law applied to the suspects in the case.
A law enforcement source interviewed Thursday said Hsu's killing apparently stemmed from a burglary gone bad.
"Although (other scenarios) haven't been ruled out," the source said.

This from reporter Ruby Gonzales in Whittier:

Two men suspected of robbing a Hacienda Heights bank were arrested Thursday after a sheriff's helicopter pilot spotted the getaway car and followed them, according to officials.
The robbery occurred at 12:56 p.m.

A man entered the US Bank at 2040 Hacienda Blvd. and handed a teller a note demanding money, said sheriff's Lt. John McBride.
The robber left with the loot and was seen getting into a green Honda Accord.

Witnesses gave a description of the robber, the car used and a partial license plate. A sheriff's helicopter pilot nearby heard the police broadcast and saw the car.

Richard Cho, 53, of Hacienda Heights has been booked on one count of robbery. Jose Rivera, 35, of Los Angeles was also booked on one count of robbery. Both suspects are being held at the sheriff's Industry Station jail. Bail for Cho has been set at $100,000.

 

 A state appellate court panel today ordered a new
sentencing hearing for a young woman convicted along with her boyfriend of the
slayings of four members of her adoptive family in Pico Rivera.

The three-judge panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that a lower court judge should have granted a continuance to allow Monica Diaz's attorney more time to prepare when she was re-sentenced in April 2007.

Here's a bit about the case from Mayhem.net

August 12, 2000 - Monica Diaz & Michael Naranjo - Sixteen-year-old Monica Diaz and her 17-year-old boyfriend Michael Naranjo pleaded not guilty to the stabbing attack of her adoptive father and three siblings in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico Rivera. Diaz and Naranjo have been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. During the hearing the patricidial teen never looked at her wheelchair-bound mother, Sylvia Flores, who was injured in the rampage. Flores adopted Diaz, her niece, as a toddler after her parents died in a car crash.

As the mud continues to slide down a couple of Sierra Madre streets, reporter Fred Ortega gets busy reporting the news.

Photographer Leo Jarzomb shot this picture Friday May 23, amid the freak late spring rain storm that's pelted the region.

Those guys cleaning the streets are inmates. Fred's the guy with the umbrella.

We remain on storm watch this morning.

Here's the National Weather Service forecast for the region.

Here's the NWS hazardous weather outlook for Southern California.

The USGS has a flood/landslide watch page here.

 Bloggers Chris and Sonja recount their adventure.

Sierra Madre mudslide evacuations remain voluntary, officials said Friday morning.

An unidentified man (left) confronts a man identified as Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 33, of San Gabriel in the children's section of Border's Bookstore at Santa Anita Mall last Saturday.

Elizondo, a registered sex offender, is accused of molesting a young girl inside the store.

A seven-minute video tape of the incident shows the man identifed as Elizondo approaching the girl several times.

Wearing a red shirt, the suspect walks by, walks away and walks by again before appearing to kneel down next to the girl.

The suspect goes unnoticed for several seconds before the onlooker confronts him and chases him from the bookstore.

Here's a segment from today's story on the incident:

Elizondo is suspected of "touching his exposed genitals up against a young female child" in a Borders bookstore at Westfield Santa Anita, 400 S. Baldwin Ave., on Saturday, according to Arcadia police Lt. Ron Buckholtz.

A 32-year-old Temple City man confronted the suspect and he fled, but the man was able to later identify the suspect from a Web site listing convicted predators, police said.

The man turned over the information to Arcadia police detectives, who were able to show it to other witnesses and confirm the suspect's identity, Foley said.

"Kudos to the gentleman for taking the time not only to intervene, but to follow up on his own," Foley said. "It led to a quick arrest."

 

At least three streets in Sierra Madre have been evacuated as a precaution against flash flooding and mudslides, officials report.

The streets are Skyland Drive, Woodland Drive and Lotus Lane, officials said. An Emergency Operations Center has been opened. Evacuees will be taken there.

Thunderstorm!

We're hearing reports Thursday afternoon of down power lines, trees scortched by lightning, and collapsed roofs causing massive indoor flooding. There have been several traffic accidents and stalled cars throughout the East San Gabriel Valley.

Additionally we're checking into reports that sandbags were being passed out in the Sierra Madre burn area.

Even reporters got caught in the rain. 

Los Angeles county remains under a flash flood watch and severe thunderstorm advisory, according to the NWS.

There are reports of a possible mud slide in Sierra Madre just before 5 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood warning as a result of heavy rains pounding the east San Gabriel Valley.

A Monrovia police agent broke his hand early Thursday morning after a scuffle with an inmate in the city's lockup, authorities said.

"There was a fight at the station. An officer broke his hand," Monrovia police Lt. Mike Lee said.

The officer was identified as Agent Nick Manfredi. The inmate, who was not identified, was taken to an area hospital suffering from lacerations. He had been arrested on suspicionof being in possession of a homemade dagger, Lee said.

No further details were available.

Sex offender Steven Michael Conklin, of West Covina, was given a 75-year to life sentence in Pomona Superior Court this morning, according to reporter Brian Day.

This from an earlier story on Conklin:

Steven Michael Conklin, 44, of West Covina was convicted Friday of possession of child pornography, failing to register as a sex offender, and two counts stemming from failing to report a change of address, court officials said.

He is due back at the Pomona Superior Court May 22 sentencing, and faces a minimum of 75 years in prison, said West Covina police Lt. Ron Mitchell.

"This will being closure to a lot of people," Mitchell said. He described Conklin's anticipated lengthy prison stay as a victory not just for West Covina, but for the community at large.

Mitchell said there's no doubt in his mind that Conklin is dangerous.

"His (criminal) practices have been very consistent through throughout several decades," he said.

Conklin turned himself in to West Covina police Sept. 28 after being informed there was a warrant for his arrest, police said shortly after the arrest.

Police began investigating him after he failed to register as a sex offender within five days of his birthday, as required by Megan's Law, Mitchell said.

 

Police arrested Baldwin Park School Board member Sergio Corona this morning on suspicion of driving under the influence and felony vandalism. He was apparently breaking windows at a home in the 13900 block of Standstone Street in Baldwin Park.

Police said when they pulled Corona over, he confronted them "shirtless and sweaty" and had to be Tased.

This comes from the Arcadia Police Officer's Association blog. Just happened to notice it a few minutes ago:

A San Gabriel man was arrested today for Lewd Acts with a child after follow-up by APD Detectives. The suspect allegedly stalked and molested a young girl who was in the children's area of the Border's Book Store, Westfield Shopping Town, during the morning hours of Saturday, May 17th. A witness rushed to the aid of the young girl, knocking the suspect away. The suspect fled on foot but the crime was caught on video tape.

Unlucky for this predator, a quick thinking witness turned to the internet and helped bring the suspect's identity to the forefront by locating him through a registrant database. Detectives conducted the follow-up and arrested 33 year old Jaime Elvis Elizondo without incident. Elizondo was booked at APD on one count of PC 288(a).

The state's Megan's law database indicates Elizondo lived on Sunset in San Gabriel. He has at least one prior for the same offense according to the state

Get those emergency supplies ready. Caltech scientists working with the United States Geological Survey have modeled the next big quake based on last week's temblor in China. Here's their scenario for a 7.8 magnitude event along the San Andreas fault in Southern California:

_10 a.m.: The San Andreas Fault ruptures, sending shock waves racing at 2 miles per second.

_30 seconds later: The agricultural Coachella Valley shakes first. Older buildings crumble. Fires start. Sections of Interstate 10, one of the nation's major east-west corridors, break apart.

_1 minute later: Interstate 15, a key north-south route, is severed in places. Rail lines break; a train derails. Tremors hit burgeoning Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles.

_1 minute, 30 seconds later: Shock waves advance toward the Los Angeles Basin, shaking it violently for 55 seconds.

_2 minutes later: The rupture stops near Palmdale, but waves march north toward coastal Santa Barbara and into the Central Valley city of Bakersfield.

_30 minutes later: Emergency responders begin to fan across the region. A magnitude-7 aftershock hits, but sends its energy south into Mexico. Several more big aftershocks will hit in following days and months.

Major fires following the quake would cause the most damage, said Keith Porter, of the University of Colorado.

Here's the latest quake map depicting western China

About 24 hours before Wednesday's expected swearing in of a new police chief in Baldwin Park, another resident got murdered.

In a drive-by shooting to be exact. It occurred just blocks from the police department. Remarkable because it's the city's fifth homicide in 2008.

By comparison, at this time last year, Baldwin Park recorded just one slaying.

Welcome to Baldwin Park, "Hub City of the San Gabriel Valley."

A stiff ocean breeze blew in from the Pacific Wednesday. Purple blossoms blew off the Jacarandas and bunched up in the gutter. Dust kicked up and made the intersection of Ramona Boulevard and Merced Avenue seem like an apparition from the Wild West.

It must have sounded like something out of a Clint Eastwood movie about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday evening.

A car with two women and a man approached the intersection from the west and stopped at the light. Another car pulled alongside. Shots rang out. Gunfire struck the man in the stopped car at least once.

By 7 p.m. he was dead and laid out on a slab in a local hospital waiting for relatives to identify him. By all accounts there was no immediate provocation for the slaying.
"But who knows what happened before?" asked Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide Lt. Dan Rosenberg.

Even so, "There were indicators to suggest there were local gangs involved," Rosenberg said. "My guess is that when this all pans out that will be the case."

The upswing in homicides comes as Baldwin Park is in the midst of remaking itself.

Whole blighted neighborhoods that were once filled with seedy pay-by-the-hour motels and ramshackle motor home courts have been torn down.

The fences, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers and parolees have moved on to greener pastures. Families have started taking over affordable housing options that line Ramona and Baldwin Park boulevards.

Recent news stories suggest despite resistance from longtime shop owners, at least one developer holds high hopes for plans to revitalize the city's core via eminent domain and redevelopment.

And yet, as if they lived in a town straight out of a spaghetti western, residents still cower in fear of the gangs that seemingly run the real city.

What usually happens in those old films is that the town's lone sheriff or marshall leaves town and is replaced by a "shoot first, ask questions later" kind of lawman.

The hired new muscle drives out the bad guys and everybody lives happily ever after.

As for the new muscle in Baldwin Park?

Her name is Lili Hadsell, but you can probably call her chief.

Hadsell, who began the year as a lieutenant, likely takes over as the county's third female municipal police chief. After many years working for the Baldwin Park Police Department, Hadsell told reporter Amanda Baumfeld she's ready for the challenges -- even as the town's homicide rate continues to soar and residents remain fearful.

"I am not new to the community," Hadsell said. "Our gang unit has helped with violence and the city is not what it was like 10 years ago. It is relatively safer now. We have a stronger police presence on the street."

In "High Plains Drifter," a bad guy tells new sheriff Clint Eastwood: "Life here's a little too quick ... Maybe you think you're fast enough to keep up with us, huh?"

To which Eastwood responds, "A lot faster than you'll ever live to be."

If only things were that simple in Baldwin Park.

This from Whittier Daily News crime guru Ruby Gonzales:

WHITTIER -- A wanted parolee and alleged sex offender who holed up in a hotel across from the sheriff's training academy surrendered to deputies after a two-hour standoff Wednesday.

Arthur Van Meter, 38, was taken into custody by officials with the California Department of Corrections.

Sheriff's Capt. Patrick Maxwell said Van Meter gave up after talking to sheriff's negotiators. No weapons were found in the room, he added. No one was injured during the incident.

Gale Frazier, supervisor at Pasadena Parole Unit I, said Van Meter was on parole for domestic violence and is a sex offender. She said Van Meter had a GPS device attached to him.

However, a search of the Megan's Law database didn't turn up an Arthur Van Meter.
She said Van Meter was supposed to report to parole on May 5 but didn't show up so a no-bail warrant was issued for him on May 6.

"He failed to report. Two agents went to his last residence, found the GPS device. And he had disappeared," Frazier said.

Parole agents tracked Van Meter to the Days Inn at 14330 Telegraph Road. Maxwell said when Van Meter refused to come out, parole called in help from the sheriff's Norwalk Station at about 11 a.m.

You can read the entire story in tomorrow's newspaper. 

Police say a 22-year-old Baldwin Park resident was shot and killed in an unprovoked attack near the intersection of Ramona and Merced *Tuesday night.

The dead man was riding with two women in a car when the attack occurred. The shooter apparently sped off.

No arrests have been made, detectives said they have no leads in the case.

A teen-aged student at Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel has died as the result of a drug overdose, officials said.

The student, identified only as a 16 or 17-year-old female, was found by officers at 3:14 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of South Pine Street in San Gabriel.

San Gabriel PD Lt. Joe Lara declined Tuesday to release more information about the death.

Reporter Brian Day shot some dramatic photos while covering a homicide in La Puente Sunday. He shared the photos with me and I'm posting one here. I've altered it slightly to conceal the body of the victim.

The victim, Gabriel Martinez, 19, was left uncovered at the scene for much of the investigation.

Brian's story from Tuesday's paper is here.

Perhaps the most difficult story to write and report as a journalist is the officer-involved shooting.

Here are three indisputable facts:

1. Cops carry guns.

2. Sometimes cops use their guns.

3. When cops use their guns, it's news.

I'm writing about this because it seems like there's been a spike in the number of officer involved shootings over the past couple of weeks.

For example:

In Inglewood a man was shot and killed by an officer who had mistakenly believed he was fleeing the scene of a shooting.

California Highway Patrol officers shot and killed a man in Westlake at the end of a pursuit when the man pulled a handgun.

Out in San Jacinto in Riverside County, two people were killed by sheriff's deputies who had been fired upon at the Soboba Indian Reservation.

In Long Beach a 46-year-old man, described as "mentally disabled," was shot and killed by officers this past weekend. The shooting stemmed from a fight where the man attempted to take an officer's baton, officials said.

On Friday, seven El Monte cops fired as many as 20 shots at a suspect who tried to run down officers. The man was slightly injured, officials said.

Sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, San Bernardino police shot and wounded a woman who attempted to attack them with weight-lifting equipment.

Also on Monday, San Bernardino police shot at a pair of guys trying to steal copper wire from the rooftop of the Riverside Press-Enterprise's San Bernardino bureau.

Then there's the case of Glenn Patrick Rose, a 25-year-old Covina man, shot to death last week by sheriff's deputies and CHP officers in an alley off First Avenue in Covina.

Driving a stolen vehicle, Rose and passenger Sarah Morales, 24, had been pursued into Covina from Walnut. The pair was inside a stolen pickup when it rammed a car being used for cover by deputies and CHP officers.

Fearing for their lives, officers Tasered Morales and Rose before firing 15 shots at the pair. Rose was killed at the scene and left lying face up and uncovered for several hours while District Attorney's Office and homicide investigators combed the scene.

It was later determined that Rose died as the result of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, coroner's officials said Monday.

A subsequent investigation of Rose revealed he had a criminal record and convictions for fleeing police in 2001 and 2002.

So where does the reporter go with this?

Relying too heavily on the criminal record to paint a picture of Rose gives the impression that the reporter maintains a bias in favor of the police. On the other hand, giving carte blanche to attorneys and family members seeking compensation can lead to the reporter being perceived as a bleeding-heart liberal.

As with all things, the truth is out there. It will take time to learn.

Meanwhile, the reporters on these stories will have to learn to walk a tightrope between competing concerns and wildly differing interpretations of their words.

Sometimes it seems every major news story has a connection to the San Gabriel Valley.

Take the search for bodies Tuesday at a run-down ranch in a desolate corner of Death Valley.

The ranch, known as the Baker Ranch, was the last known hideout of Charles Manson and members of the Manson Family before their capture in October 1969. Some speculate that undiscovered victims of the Manson Family killers remain buried on the ranch after all these years.

A few months ago cadaver dogs searching the grounds had two significant hits, according to their handlers. The search scheduled for Tuesday will be a fairly scientific endeavor according to the Los Angeles Times:

PANAMINT SPRINGS -- Spooky rumors have persisted for decades that there may be clandestine graves at a secluded ranch used as a hideout by the Charles Manson clan after a 1969 killing spree.

On Tuesday, Inyo County sheriff's investigators and scientists packing portable ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers and shovels will convoy to the Barker Ranch on a mission to confirm or put to rest such speculation.

So what's the local connection?

Leslie Van Houten. In the span of a couple years Van Houten went from Monrovia High School's Homecoming Queen -- to convicted murderer on Death Row.

Here's some of what the Famous Trials Web site says about Van Houten:

Although described as being the least committed to Manson of the three female defendants, Van Houten nonetheless agreed to participate in the murderous raid on the LaBianca home on August 10, 1969.  She helped hold down Rosemary LaBianca while Tex Watson stabbed her to death.  In a November 1969 interview with police, Van Houten admitted to knowledge of the Tate-LaBianca murders, but denied participation. 

Van Houten's first attorney, Donald Barnett, was dismissed after crossing Manson.  Her second lawyer, Marvin Part, wanted to show that Van Houten was "insane in a way that is almost science fiction."  Part saw her crime as influenced by LSD and Charles Manson,  but Van Houten saw it differently:  "I was influenced by the war in Viet Nam and TV."  At Manson's urging, Van Houten fired Part and yet another attorney was appointed.  When Van Houten's third attorney, Ronald Hughes, also began pursuing a strategy that ran counter to that favored by Manson (Manson opposed any strategy that suggested the other defendants acted under his influence), the Family had him killed.  No one has ever been charged with his murder.

Hughes is not among the potential victims buried at Barker Ranch. His body turned up in Sespe Hot Springs in Ventura County.

So who might be buried at the Barker Ranch?

Indians? Gold miners? Victims?

As for Van Houten, here's some links of interest:

Classmates from Monrovia High School.

Van Houten's 2007 parole hearing

Victim's letter to parole board

The Monrovia city manager claims tactics used by the city's police officer's union add "insult to injury," according to a blog post published Sunday by Miss Havisham.

After a humorous introduction, Havisham and City Manager Scott Ochoa get down to the heart of the matter:

Miss H:

How difficult has it been negotiating with the Monrovia Police Officer's Association?

<snip>

Mr Ochoa: If the City had extra cash for billboards (estimated at $20K per month) or phone banks, I think the public would demand that it be used for officer salaries - and rightly so. I believe these tactics by the MPOA have only hurt their cause. Their pay demands - while tone deaf to the realities of today's economy and thus, the taxpayers who pay our salaries - could probably be understood by folks as part of the contract negotiation process; but the billboards' impact, whether real or perceived, on business and/or property values appears to be too much to be overlooked. The MPOA's donation/solicitation letter that hit mailboxes late last week seemed to add insult to injury.

All this said, I still believe (indeed, I have to believe) that we can find a reasonable accommodation. I am confident that we can check all of the baggage and bad blood at the door; but lasting and viable resolution will take compromise from both parties.

Perhaps there's hope

Jan WIlliams recalls her son Neal in an email I received this morning.

Neal, 27, and Jan's grandsons Ian and Devon were slain last August at their apartment in Rowland Heights. Neal's wife Manling has been charged in the killings and has yet to face a preliminary hearing in the case. Neal was apparently stabbed to death. The children were suffocated.

Here's Jan's letter:

May 19, 2008 - Neal's 28th birthday.  More than any other holiday or anniversary that I have faced in the last nine months, this is the one that is the most difficult.  This is the day my only son was born.  He should be here to eat his grandmother's key lime pie, the one she only makes for him.  It isn't fair.  It isn't right.  He had so many things to look forward to and he didn't deserve to die.  How hard it is as a parent to think of your child bleeding out his life in fear and pain.  There are times when I think that my heart is too wounded to beat even one beat more.

I have spoken and written about the little boys, but until now I have been unable to write about Neal.  That isn't because I loved my grandchildren more than I loved my son.  I think it is because the hurt is too close.  And because so many parts of our personalities were similar, holding a magnifying glass up to examine Neal means that I must examine myself as well.  To help you see Neal  I must expose a bit of me.  That isn't easy or comfortable, so let me take a couple of deep breaths.

Neal and I are both peacemakers.  We hate to see anyone angry, in pain or humiliated.  We want to fix it.  I've seen Neal get up and leave the room when he could tell that a character in a television show was about to be embarrassed.   His eyes teared up when the barracuda ate the clown fish's eggs in Finding Nemo, and he was bothered when the T-Rex ate the dog in Jurassic Park II.  He could always see the other side in almost every argument.  It didn't necessarily make him change his mind, because he could be very stubborn about his own conclusions, but he could understand and empathize.  I am the same way myself.  Perhaps that is why we could discuss so many issues - even volatile ones.  We both knew that it was safe to air our opinions, but that we shouldn't expect any sudden about face, no matter how eloquent our arguments.

We are voracious readers who can lose all sense of time with a book in our hands.  It is known to be  dangerous to let us loose in a book store, especially if it also sells coffee.  We are interested in many of the same things - history and archaeology, space travel and ecology, philosophy and volcanoes.  We are fans of Monty Python and Shakespeare, Star Wars and Gilbert and Sullivan.  We like to cook but detest washing dishes.  We procrastinate.  We like to walk in the rain.  We sing in the car.  Devon once asked me in confusion how I knew all of his daddy's songs.  I can't begin to tell you how it felt to see my son sing my songs and play my games and tell my stories with his own children.  It was almost like being handed a glimpse of immortality, real and down to earth.

Neal and I are good with animals and children.  We can make friends with mean old alley cats and can put babies to sleep.  When Neal was in middle school, he was a volunteer aide at a daycare center.  I would come to pick him up and see him walking calmly across a play yard with four-year-olds stuck like glue to every limb.  The last time I went to the park with Neal and the boys, he started in pushing the merry-go-round, and kept right on pushing, even when his own children had lost interest and gone on with me to other amusements.  As long as there was a single child to say "Again!" he was there to push, even red faced and out of breath.  He was a great father who treated every child he met as though it was one of his own boys.

Neal liked to tease, with a roguish twinkle in his eyes, and he had a wonderful, infectious laugh. He was a trustworthy and loyal friend, the kind who would show up with a truck on moving day. He was an amazing strategist, who thought many moves ahead, and when he played games he usually won.  He also had the infinite patience to teach hyperactive little boys how to play chess or baseball or video games or (Devon's favorite) the German card game Bohnanza.  He answered endless questions, and laughed with good humor at whatever jokes were popular in the first grade, even the ones he had heard many times before.

Neal didn't have a lot of ambition for material things.  He was raised by a single parent from the time he was two, and we never had a lot of money.  It didn't matter.  We were rich in many other things, and I know he felt the same about his own adult life.  We often talked about it.  Devon and Ian were his treasure, and he had no need of fancy cars or a big house.  I am proud of that.  Neal was a man of heart and integrity, and that means more to me than if he had become the world's youngest multimillionaire.  He would often quote the character  Merlin from the movie Excaliber , saying, "When a man lies he murders part of the world."  He believed that and made it his personal code of honor.  How many people even have a code of honor in this busy and competitive world? .  He wasn't a perfect man.  He was a good man.  That was Neal - a genuinely good man.

This from NBC in San Diego:

SAN DIEGO -- Mexican police found the bodies Sunday evening of four American citizens who had been shot to death near their car, according to a Mexican newspaper.

The bodies three men and a woman, all shot to death execution-style, were discovered at about 6 p.m. Sunday in a ravine near Rosarito Beach, the newspaper Frontera reported on its Web site. Two African-American men were found in a green Cadillac with California license plates, the paper reported. Police found the body of a third African-American man in a group of trees near the car.

Officials said the white woman was about 50 yards from the car. She, like the other victims, had been shot in the head, Frontera reported.

 

Justice Antonin Scalia writes the opinion in this case, which is known as U.S. v. Williams:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court upheld criminal penalties Monday for promoting child pornography.

The court, in a 7-2 decision, brushed aside concerns that the law could apply to mainstream movies that depict adolescent sex, classic literature or innocent e-mails that describe pictures of grandchildren.

The ruling upheld part of a 2003 law that also prohibits possession of child porn. It replaced an earlier law against child pornography that the court struck down as unconstitutional.

The law sets a five-year mandatory prison term for promoting, or pandering, child porn. It does not require that someone actually possess child pornography. Opponents have said the law could apply to movies like "Traffic" or "Titanic" that depict adolescent sex.

But Justice Antonin Scalia, in his opinion for the court, said the law does not cover movie sex. there is no "possibility that virtual child pornography or sex between youthful-looking adult actors might be covered by the term 'simulated sexual intercourse.'" Scalia said.

Likewise, Scalia said, First Amendment protections do not apply to "offers to provide or requests to obtain child pornography."

*There's a lot of interesting thought on the First Ammendment contained throughout Scalia's opinion. Here' s a section on the effect of the ruling on "Hollywood:"

Amici contend that some advertisements for mainstream Hollywood movies that depict underage charactershaving sex violate the statute. Brief for Free Speech Coalition et al. as Amici Curiae 9-18. We think it implausible that a reputable distributor of Hollywood movies,such as Amazon.com, believes that one of these films contains actual children engaging in actual or simulated sex on camera; and even more implausible that Amazon.com would intend to make its customers believe such a thing. The average person understands that sex scenes inmainstream movies use nonchild actors, depict sexual activity in a way that would not rise to the explicit level necessary under the statute, or, in most cases, both.

Busy couple of days in the SGV and surrounding neighborhoods:

• In La Puente a man was killed following a dispute near Stimpson and Fairgrove.

LA PUENTE - Deputies responding to a 9-1-1 call reporting a fight in a residential neighborhood Sunday discovered the body of a man lying in the street, authorities said.

The incident was reported about 4:30 p.m. on Stimson Avenue, just south of Fairgrove Avenue, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Dan Jackson.

Two men believed to be participants in the fight were stopped leaving the area in a pickup truck and taken to the sheriff's Industry station for questioning, Jackson said, however it was not known if they were suspects in the attack.

It was not clear how the man died, Jackson said, though witnesses who reported the fight told officials there was a knife involved.

A sheriff's press release put out Monday morning indicates the man died as the result of blunt force trauma and may have been run over.

• An officer involved shooting in El Monte left a suspect wounded and in custody:

EL MONTE - Police shot and wounded a parolee Friday who allegedly tried to run down officers in a stolen van, authorities said.

A police officer suffered minor injuries in the incident, sheriff's officials said.

The suspect, a San Bernardino County man in his 20s whose name was not released, was reported to be in stable condition at an area hospital, said Sgt. Bill Marsh of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

He was wounded in both arms, said El Monte police Lt. Dan Burlingham.

The suspect was later determined to be a parolee with a felony warrant for his arrest, Marsh said. The specific nature of the warrant was not known Sunday.

• A suspected copper thief is believed responsible for a small brush fire in Industry.

The blaze was reported about noon near the freeway's Valley Boulevard off-ramp, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Supervising Dispatcher Bryan Webb.

No structures were damaged or threatened by the flames, and no injuries were reported, said Firefighter Jayson Mendoza.

The fire was sparked by Edison electrical equipment after someone apparently tampered with it earlier, Mendoza said.

• Pomona people protest police checkpoints:

POMONA - A weekend checkpoint caused residents to express concern and accusations to fly at a City Council meeting on Monday.

Councilwoman Cristina Carrizosa said residents were frightened and that the behavior of officers reminded her of movie scenes depicting the Gestapo.

Several people spoke at the meeting about Saturday afternoon's DUI checkpoint at Mission Boulevard and San Antonio Avenue.

Police Chief Joe Romero said the remarks about the Gestapo were offensive to the officers at the checkpoint and that they were owed an apology.

Pomona businessman Francisco Espinoza said the checkpoints targeted Latinos and urged the council to "take control of the city."

"Take it back. You control the Police Department, and you work for us," he said.

 

The debate has taken on prominence since the union more than two weeks ago put up two dramatic billboards that portray Monrovia as a crime-plagued city with reduced police patrols.
"It's more the talk of the town than anything," said Clarence Shaw, a Monrovia Unified School District board member. "I was in support of (the union). But this last tactic that they've used, I can't go along with that. The tide has turned."
About 25 protestors turned out Friday evening for a rally in front of the police station, urging the Monrovia Police Officers' Association to take down the billboards. A larger turnout had been hoped for, said organizer Debbie Elliott-Penzer, who added that she supports the police but not their tactics.
"Everybody needs a raise, but don't go about it this way," she said. "We don't do business like that in the city of Monrovia."

The MPOA has found especially fierce backers on local political blogs, where discussion recently has focused on Ochoa's compensation package and accusations that someone in Councilman Tom Adam's real estate office posted crude, anonymous comments critical of police officers and the union.
Both Ochoa and Adams have spoken out against the MPOA's tactics.

To reiterate, HBB (associated with a City Councilman's office) has asserted the MPD officers..
- Are lazy
- Harass people
- Write bogus tickets
- Steal money using their guns
- Lack manners from years of carrying guns
- and, of course, the last one to be injured ate too many donuts (need I remind you, he was nearly murdered).

Saw this ad on Craigslist. Here's the pitch:

Talented freelance online bloggers and vloggers wanted to intern for for start-up weekly blog/vlog reaching thousands via email in the Foothill Communities (from the 57 fwy to the 15 fwy along the 210 corridor...

The Daily Bulletin reports a brush fire that began in Phillips Ranch Friday about 11 a.m. was 50 percent contained at press time last night. Brush clearance intended to prevent fires apparently caused the blaze.

The photo comes from Bulletin reporter Will Lester with this caption:

Maria and Avsencio Reyes watch a fire burn from the roof of their home on Friday May 16, 2008 in the Phillips Ranch area of Pomona, Calif. (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Will Lester)

 

Here's an excerpt from an AP story about brush fires and the heatwave:

MOUNT BALDY VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) _ Firefighters braced for more hot and dry weather Saturday as they worked to surround a wildfire that has burned 460 acres of parched brushlands in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The Bighorn Fire on the flanks of Mount Baldy was 72 percent contained, with full containment expected Sunday evening, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Matt Corelli said. No injuries or building damage were reported.

It was among several small but dangerous wildfires that broke out in five Southern California counties this week as the region withered under the influence of a high- pressure system expected to last into the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Saturday warning of temperatures reaching up to 105 degrees in some areas.

Reporter Brian Day's story on Tuesday's officer involved shooting in Covina has the first actual quotes by representatives of Glenn Patrick Rose's family.

Here's the story top:

COVINA - Details continue to emerge about a fatal officer-involved shooting earlier this week and the local man who was killed.

The driver, Glenn Patrick Rose, 25, was shot to death by police. Rose and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Sarah Morales, were both zapped with a Taser prior to the shooting and Rose had been convicted twice before of fleeing police, according to police and court documents.

Rose and Morales were inside an allegedly stolen pickup truck when he rammed a car being used for cover by a sheriff's deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer, said sheriff's Lt. Dan Coleman.

Records show that Rose was convicted of evading police in July 2001 and May 2002. He had also been found guilty of grand theft and driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Brian Claypool and Eric Maier, attorneys representing Rose's family, said Rose had no history of violent crime and that the 6- and 7-year-old convictions only bolster their belief that he was merely trying to evade officials, not attack them.

"When the officers opened fire, they didn't know that (Rose had a criminal record)," Claypool said, adding that past deeds do not excuse bad decisions made by officials.

"He was really doing a lot to change his life," Claypool added. "He was really working hard."

Though Rose had a drug problem in the past, he had been sober for more than four years, Claypool said.

After two days of intensive reporting Brian Day is set to report several new revelations that have emerged from his investigation into the slaying of Glenn Patrick Rose.

Among those revelations, Rose had been Tasered prior to an officer involved shooting that led to his death. Additionally he had been convicted of participating in at least two police pursuits in 2001 and 2002.

On Tuesday morning, Rose was shot to death by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and officers from the California Highway Patrol. The shooting occurred after Rose led officers on a high speed pursuit from Walnut through West Covina.

Rose, a woman who was riding in the car with him, and the officers ended up in a Covina alleyway near First and Puente avenues in Covina.

Once there, officers said Rose attempted to steal another car before attempting to run them down.

As many as 15 shots were fired and Rose was killed.

Here's the new information:

• Rose was Tasered before he was shot, according to an autopsy performed by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.
• Rose had a criminal record in Los Angeles County that included convictions for fleeing officers in 2001 and 2002. His record also included convictions for grand theft and driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.
• An attorney hired by Rose's family to possibly file a wrongful death lawsuit against the county told Day in an interview Friday he was unaware of convictions, but believes it bolsters his case; as Rose was never charged with violent crimes stemming from previous pursuits.
• Rose's family and friends as well as the attorney told also told reporter Day that Rose, who previously had a substance abuse problem, had turned his life around and was attending a 12-step program.
• Rose's girlfriend Sarah Rebecca Morales remains in custody for her role in the pursuit. She is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Much of this continues to be debated in a Topix forum that's been pretty heated.

As a sample, here's an anonymous comment from a person identified as a friend of both Rose and Morales:

 I knew Sarah and Patrick very well. I was in sober living with Patrick and knew Sarah from her job at Alpha Omega. She was and is a sweet young lady. It is so sad to see what the drugs and alcohol do to us and how we turn into a totally different person once we are on them. I am in recovery and have been sober for four years. I know the strugles of staying clean and sober. I relapsed many times befor I got the four years I have today. The one thing that AA tell us is,(If we do not stop doing the drugs and drinking and work the Spiritual Program put befor us, that we are doomed to Jails, Institutions or Death. It is just really sad and ashame that Patrick had to draw the death card, because when he was sober he was a very good person and helped many.) I have seen so many guys that I care about and that have been through the sober living that I went through and managed go back to prison and institutions that it really hurts. But, Sarah and all of the men that have had to go to jail or back to prison are the lucky ones, because they can resume there lives once they have served there time,

View Larger Map

Blogged at Foothill Cities

Story at Daily Bulletin

The PCC Courier got a copy of the coroner's report on Liya "Jessie" Lu.

Lu, a student at PCC, went missing last summer. Her body was later discovered stuffed in a trashcan in an Arcadia b ackyard.

Isaac Campbell, Liu's boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of killing Liu after he was captured in Minnesota, following his flight from California.

Here's an excerpt of the Courier story by reporter Franco Sui Yuan: (nice job Franco!)

The cause of death of former PCC student Liya 'Jessie' Lu remains a mystery after the Coroner's medical examiners released their report on Tuesday.

Lu's body was found in a trashcan covered with approximately 10 gallons of kitty litter on Sept. 15, almost a month after her disappearance.

"The elaborate preparation to dispose of the cadaver is a strong indication of the intent to dispose of evidence that could point out the cause and manner of death," said medical examiners in the Coroner's autopsy report. "Considering all these circumstances the manner of death is homicidal."

Eventually, Lu's advanced-decomposing body stopped any type of conclusions in regards of her cause of death. "The cause of death in this case remains undetermined after autopsy and toxicological examinations," said the report.

The Coroner's report reveals that Lu's body was suffering greenish discoloration on the skin, disintegration on the internal and external organs, and brain liquification - the process in which a solid or a gas becomes liquid.

The report also discloses that Lu's body had no external or internal evidence of injuries, which increased the ambiguity on her slaying.

One-time PCC nursing program student Isaac Campbell is charged with murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend Lu.

KABC ran a hokey (but informative) piece on Thursday's newscast about the ongoing dispute between the Monrovia POA and City Hall (of course THE BILLBOARD was prominently featured).

Reporter Rob Hayes told the story Thursday night outside City Hall

It's the kind of place where you see a city worker putting up an American Flag and if you whistle a few bars you feel as if you are in Mayberry.

(snip)

As for the noise these billboards are making, its certainly harder to hear the whistle... (Mayberry theme in the background)

Hayes' report also makes reference to a planned rally at the police station Friday night...

*UPDATE: The rally, which starts at 5:30 p.m outside the police station is the work of residents and shop owners who dont' care for the billboard. Melissa Pamer reports:

Some residents and local business owners have condemned the billboards, saying they paint an unfair picture of Monrovia and will drive away customers.

The rally is intended to ask officers to take the billboards down, said Debbie Elliott-Penzer, one of the chief organizers of the rally.

"Everybody needs a raise, but don't go about it this way," Elliott-Penzer said. "We don't do business like that in the city of Monrovia."

Robert CJ Parry responds in an email:

Really?  Are you sure the shop owners are even mostly resident of Monrovia?

The Times found some Sichuan immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley who are anxiously awaiting word from their relatives in China's Sichuan Provence, which was devastated by a 7.9 earthquake earlier this week.

But Monday's earthquake has thrust a community used to being overlooked and misunderstood to the forefront of Southern California's bustling Chinese American community. For the Sichuanese who gathered for lunch Thursday at Chung King restaurant in San Gabriel, it was a bittersweet experience.

"We feel extreme sadness," said Tang, a nanny. "The only way Sichuan is being mentioned now is through this tragedy."

It's been a nightmarish week for the lunch group, many of whom met after overhearing one another speak Sichuanese at a supermarket.

The Chinese community in the United States was founded mostly by Southern immigrants from China's coastal regions. That's why the Cantonese and Taishanese dominated Chinatowns for decades. That changed with the influx of immigrants from Taiwan, then Beijing and Shanghai.

Though there are no statistics available, observers say Sichuanese immigrants began arriving steadily in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1990s. Many took the route of earlier immigrants by seeking jobs in restaurants or the import-export business. The number of Sichuanese living in Southern California is unclear because they lack the family associations and student groups that are ubiquitous with immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and areas of mainland China.

Elsewhere:

For the first time since 1949, according to Sina News (as translated by Google), China will accept help from other countries as it recovers from the quake:

After the disaster, many countries and international organizations issued statements one after another, the people of China expressed condolences, some countries have begun to China financial and material assistance. The international media also to China's earthquake was significant, concern is comprehensive, and the first time for China immediately started rescue operations that respect.

May 13, the State Council Information Office held a news conference.  In the conference, the Ministry of Civil Affairs disaster relief Secretary, said Wang Zhenyao, China is very grateful for the generous assistance of the international community, will accept donations of time and timely delivery of disaster areas.

Finally, here's a translated blog from Sina.com that points to Google maps, and other information from the quake zone

Never leave your cow suit in an unlocked car. From the Daily Bulletin:

The store's crowd-pleasing life-size cow costume was stolen from the car trunk of an unidentified employee last weekend, and police have no leads so far.

The employee, a 42-year-old Upland woman, called police Saturday morning when she woke to find her car had been ransacked overnight on Bodenhamer Street.

The entire car had been scoured - even the glove box was left open - but "the only thing that was missing was the adult-sized black-and-white cow suit belonging to Chick-fil-A," Upland police Sgt. Cliff Mathews said.

(snip)

In his 17 years as a police officer, Mathews said he has never seen a mascot costume stolen.

"Certainly it's a very uncommon occurrence," he said.

The death of Glenn Patrick Rose following a pursuit that ended in a hail of gunfire in a Covina alley is generating a lot of comment from friends and family in a Topix discussion of Amanda Baumfeld's story.

Here's a sample comment from someone identified as JoJo of Covina:

Those of us that knew Patrick know what cause's this type of behavior. Those of you that were close to him know exactly what I'm saying.

Several other commenters have taken up a defense of Rose on the site.

Meanwhile, Rose's girlfriend Sarah Rebecca Morales, 24, of Pomona was arraigned Thursday on three counts of assault on a police officer or firefighter and two counts of taking or driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.

She's being held in lieu of $60,000 bail at the same Lynwood facility that housed Paris Hilton last summer, according to the sheriff's inmate locator.

BTW, here's a link to the Trib's discussion forum, which is hosted by Topix.

Melissa Pamer reports that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau has released the sketches of two men wanted in connection with a Jan. 14 drive-by shooting in Monrovia in which two men might have been slightly injured.

Here's the sketches at left.

I imagine folks in Monrovia have some questions for officials about certain elements of the story.

Here are my questions and observations:

1. Why is homicide releasing sketches of figures wanted in what is likely to be charged as an assault at best? It's my understanding that homicide detectives only investigate actual homicides.

2. When it comes to the Sammantha Salas slaying, why does homicide Lt. Dan Rosenberg say he's not ready ask for a reward from Supervisor Mike Antonovich's office? Antonovich's flack Tony Bell has said repeatedly that he's talked to detectives about that. Can we infer that these two might be wanted in the Salas case as well? What's the story here?

3. Officials that Pamer talked to said crime tips have decreased as media attention has waned in Monrovia.  It almost sounds as if the media is being blamed for a lack of interest in the community. Truth be told, Monrovia seems to have several pretty active community forums among them FCBLOG, City Hall, North Primrose and Frazgo on MetBlogs. Additionally we've had a section of our Web site exclusively devoted to the shootings.

4. Early on in the investigation, authorities blamed the rising tensions in the community on recently released parolees. Do these composite drawings match the mug shots of actual parolees reportedly released into the community?

There's a possibility that victims of the Manson Family may still be buried in near a desert hideout in Inyo County.

This from Radar:

The search for remains at the Barker Ranch in Death Valley begins Next Tuesday when a crew of scientists, laser technicians, cadaver dogs, soil testers, and search team from Inyo County Sheriff's Office will comb the cult's old clubhouse grounds. Since the 1969 murders, rumors and speculation have been rampant as to whether additional bodies had been disposed of at Barker Ranch, where Manson was arrested, found hiding under a kitchen sink in fetal crouch. So, why now after all these years? "The sheriff just really wants to put this to rest," sheriff spokesperson Carma Roper tells Radar. "He wants conclusive answers."

Google map below shows the location of the ranch.

A man believed to be the Late Bloomer bandit has been apparently captured by the Whittier Police Department, although there is no information on their site.

FBI shows Late Bloomer captured on their LA Bank Robbers site.

Thanks to the Bank Terrorism blog for this tip.

Here's an excerpt from a Brian Day story about the Late Bloomer published on April 21, 2008:

The Late Bloomer Bandit earned his name because of his age, estimated between 55 and 60, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

He is believed to have struck the Whittier Union Bank branch at 8510 Painter Ave. on March 28, a Pico Rivera Banco Popular at 8500 Washington Blvd. on March 29, and a Santa Fe Springs Banco Popular at 13310 Telegraph Road on April 16, Eimiller said.

The bandit tells his victims he has a gun and isn't afraid to use it, however no weapon has been seen, Eimiller said.

He also uses profanity and appears to be growing bolder with each robbery, she said.

The Late Bloomer Bandit is described as a white or Latino man, standing about 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighing 180 to 190 pounds, with gray hair and a mustache, Eimiller said. He wears prescription glasses with black frames and carries a newspaper or magazine where he stows the stolen cash, she said.

The California state Supreme Court issued its ruling on gay marriages this morning. Here's the AP story top:

SAN FRANCISCO--The California Supreme Court has overturned a
voter-approved ban on gay marriage, paving the way for the state to become the second
in the United States where gay and lesbian residents can marry.

The justices released the 4-3 decision Thursday, saying that domestic partnerships
are not a good enough substitute for marriage in an opinion written by Chief Justice
Ron George.

Outside the courthouse, gay marriage supporters cried and cheered as news spread of
the decision.

In striking down the ban, the court said, "In contrast to earlier times, our state
now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term
committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise
children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more
generally, that an individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender --
does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal
rights."

Here's a pdf of the decision.

In the News:

Blaze burns on -- from DB.

Winds could fan Mt. Baldy Fire -- from LAT

Crews battle as weather turns -- from AP

On the Blogs:

Still burning -- Fire fighting news

Resists containment -- West Coast 911

Situation Update -- FEMA

Elsewhere:

Mt Baldy Volunteer FD

Shown at left:

Inciweb progression map

As with the last month's Sierra Madre/Santa Anita/Chantry Flats fire, there are several bloggers watching what's going on at Mt. Baldy. And today's apparent flare up 

The Fire, officially dubbed the "Bighorn Wildland Fire"  has burned 310 acres and is about 10 percent contained, according to Inciweb.

From the Blogs:

"Ashes in the sky"

US Forest Service updates from My Murrieta (?)

Still "out of control"

In the News

Both the LAT and the Riverside Press-Enterprise delve into the rash of violence at the Soboba Indian reservation outside San Jacinto. PE includes a timeline of incidents that stretches back to 2007. I've heard that the tensions are long simmering and likely go back many more years if not decades.

Speaking of OIS, I stumbled on a law enforcement Web site (Officer.com) that carries discussions of several of the more recent shootings, including Tuesday's Covina shooting.

Speaking of law enforcement -- how about the confluence of TV and Sheriff's department causing a reexamination (and temporary closure) of the Sheriff's Academy in Whittier. Here's what the DN says.

On the blogs:

Nice back and forth between Proctor and Ortega for the coveted WWE Pasadena belt. There's an interesting revelation or two in there...Just in time for Judgement Day this weekend.

Elsewhere:

Speaking of Judgement Day there's lots of news coming out of China in the wake of the devastating 7.9 earthquake, there's also plenty of local connections.

Oh almost forgot, it's Bike Week in Pasadena, but that' doesn't make things any safer as Hector Gonzalez, city editor of the Star-News just pointed out in an e-mail:

so much for bike-to-work week:HACIENDA HEIGHTS<NO1>ZZSG<NO> <NO1>(CNS)<NO>- A bicyclist in his 60s was killed today when his bike and a car collided in the Hacienda Heights<NO1>ZZSG<NO> area.<QA>

The accident occurred about 7 a.m. on Los Altos Drive at Hacienda Boulevard, the California Highway Patrol reported. The man, who was not immediately identified, died at a hospital.<QA>

 

 

This is an excerpt of a Brian Day story running in tomorrow's newspaper. I think it enhances my theory that the world has turned into a giant game of Grand Theft Auto IV:

Three recent video game store robberies in which thieves seemed more interested in games, not cash, might be connected, authorities said Tuesday.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Major Crime Bureau are investigating a possible link between robberies at GameStop locations in Rosemead, Pico Rivera, and Bellflower that occurred between April 22 and Sunday, officials said.

The most recent incident was at a Rosemead GameStop store, located at 3000 San Gabriel Blvd., said sheriff's Sgt. Tri Hong.

Four robbers stole six PlayStation 3 video game systems and fled, said store manager Jovan Sanchez.

At least one handgun was used in the crime, Hong said.

Sanchez described the robbers as well-mannered and who said "please" as they demanded the video game systems.

 

Less than a week after the slaying of 90-year-old Evelyn Mosley at her home on Lincoln Avenue in Altadena, the Board of Supervisors is ready to authorize a reward.

Mosley was found lying in a pool of blood inside her home by firefighters who had responded to reports of smoke. The initial investigation in the case labeled Mosley's death as suspicious.

Later it was determined that she had been slain, and for a few brief hours Friday, the Sheriff's Department thought Mosley's housekeeper might be responsible. They booked the unidentified woman, but cut her loose several hours later, saying she had been "exonerated."

So, from the reward offering we can assume detectives are back at square one with nothing to go on.

I'm interested, though, in the swiftness of the reward offering. It's not clear what is motivating the supervisors, since I couldn't get Michael Antonovich's flack Tony Bell on the phone Monday.

Perhaps this is a good sign for those hoping the supes will also offer a reward in the Sammantha Salas slaying.

You'll remember Salas, 16, was shot to death in a hail of automatic gunfire outside her father's apartment in unincorporated Monrovia in late January. No one has been caught in the case.

Last time I talked to Bell, he blamed the lack of a reward on the detectives investigating Salas' death.

"They know what they are doing," he scolded me. "Who are you to say what is the right investigative technique?"

Since then, I was able to ask Supervisor Gloria Molina about the possibility of offering a reward in the Salas case.

She said she would look into it and hoped Salas' family would contact her office. I haven't heard back.

What's the disparity between the Salas and Mosley cases?

As one of my colleagues asked Monday, "Wouldn't you think that detectives and the supes want to do something about the killing of a 16-year-old who had her whole life in front of her?"

Not yet, apparently.

X X X

Watching television news and reading the paper over the weekend, I suddenly got the feeling that we are all living in Grand Theft Auto IV.

As the title implies, players go around stealing cars. Sticking to the story line can lead to shootouts with cops and drug dealers and police pursuits.

Taking a look at headlines of the past week, all of the violent stuff reads like it came straight from the video game.

Example: In Azusa, Jose Luis Medina, 33, was shot and killed in a street robbery that occurred about 2a.m. Saturday in the 600 block of West Gladstone Street.

Medina was walking with a friend east on Gladstone when a car approached and Medina was shot and killed.

The car and its occupant fled. Like many of the scenarios in GTA, there were no arrests.

Across the county in Inglewood Sunday morning, a couple of officers, believing they were under fire, opened up on a passing car, killing a 19-year-old and injuring the driver. Again there have been no arrests.

In South El Monte on Sunday night, four men apparently affiliated with a local gang were targeted by a gunman for unknown reasons. All four were wounded and taken to an undisclosed hospital. There were no arrests.

Taking such a clinical approach to reading and watching the news removes the fact that in each of these stories, real three-dimensional people were involved.

They had real families, real friends and real hopes and dreams. And no restarts.

Take a look at the jump for an update.... 

Here's some photos by Walt Mancini, who was at the scene of the OIS in Covina this morning. These are the ones we can put on the net. There were some pretty gruesome shots of the dead man that we will withhold. Walt's captions are next to the photos.

Sheriff's deputies and California Higway Patrol Officers chased a
stolen car Tuesday, May 13, 2008 into an alley adjacent to The
Lexington Apartment 327 South First Avenue, where gunfire  broke out.
No deputies  or CHP officers were hurt in the shooting but the suspect
were shot and killed. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini/SVCity)

A bullet from crime scene on the door of The Lexington apartment
building at 323 South First Avenue in Covina.  Sheriff's deputies and
California Higway Patrol Officers chased a stolen car Tuesday, May 13, 2008 into an alley adjacent to The Lexington Apartment 327 South First
Avenue, where gunfire  broke out. No deputies  or CHP officers were
hurt in the shooting but the suspect were shot and killed. (SGVN/Staff
Photo by Walt Mancini/SVCity)

Google News has a new feature that provides comments from "people in the news"  

I'm not sure how it works but it's cool.

I've bee surfing the web today to see how much information is able to flow out of China in the wake of the devastating 7.9 magnitude quake that shook Chengdu Province this week.

The raw news and photos are grim:

AP is reporting that as many as 12,000 are now dead and 20,000 are missing.

Here's some Chinese media reports via Google translator. 

Here's a page of video images from near the epicenter.

Emergency.com reports.

What about the Pandas?

View Larger Map

***One is dead after three officers shot at a suspect attempting to flee. One body remains uncovered and in plain view in the street.**  

There are reports that as many as 16 shots were fired at the end of the pursuit.***  Several people who live in the neighborhood are not allowed ot leave their residences while the crime scene is being investigated. Officers opened fire when they feared for their safety***

An officer involved shooting on First Avenue in Covina is under investigation this morning, officials said. The shooting apparently occurred at the tail end of a high speed pursuit. Few details were available early Tuesday.

Sheriff's Homicide investigators remained on scene at 8:30 a.m., more than six hours after the shooting occurred. Although the shooting occurred in Covina the officers involved were apparently members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and California Highway Patrol.

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner has not been called to roll out to the scene, officials said.

No further details were available.

For LA County, the event marked the third such shooting over the past three days. On Sunday morning,  Officers in Inglewood opened fire on a car they believed was involved in a shooting. Michael Byoune, 19, was killed, driver Larry White, 19, was injured.

The CHP shot and killed a DUI suspect in Westlake, officials said.

The shooting happened just after midnight on West 7th Street at South Westmoreland Avenue, CHP Officer Patrick Kimball said.

"After the suspect exited vehicle, per the orders of the officers, that suspect produced a handgun," CHP Sgt. Mark Garrett told reporters at the scene. "At that point the officers, in self-defense, fired on the suspect, and he was hit more than once and succumbed to his injuries at the scene."

After the shooting, a man that had been riding in the suspect's car was handcuffed and put into the back of a CHP patrol vehicle. He is reportedly being questioned as a witness.

**An officer involved shooting in San Jacinto in Riverside County has left two others dead:

SAN JACINTO, Calif. -- Sheriff's deputies killed two people suspected of shooting at a security guard at the Soboba Casino on Monday night, according to broadcast reports.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies initially received calls that the security guard was shot and wounded, but when deputies arrived they discovered that the guard's shack was hit but the man was not wounded, a sergeant said.

After the shooting near the guard shack, the suspects then fled in a vehicle on the Idyllwild National Forest (74) Highway into the hills just east of the casino, engaging in a running shootout with Riverside County sheriff's deputies and a SWAT unit. The shooters also fired at least six rounds toward a sheriff's helicopter, but the chopper was not struck, the sergeant said.

  

 

The Supes are offering a $10,000 reward for information on the murder of Evelyn Mosley, according to a press release put out this afternoon.

Mosley, 90,  was killed last Thursday after a brief struggle in her home in the 3200 block of Lincoln Avenue in Altadena.

Her body was discovered by fire fighters responding to a call at the home.

Residents of the toney Linda Vista neighborhood in Pasadena received a plea for help from the Pasadena Police Department.

In a letter to homeowners, cops note a string of daytime burglaries in an unnamed "hillside neighborhood"

Here's an excerpt:

"The Pasadena Police Department wants you to be on the look-out. In recent days there have been several daytime burglaries when the victims were away at work ...

"In many of the burglaries it would appear that the suspects are familiar with the hiding places of the residents valuables

"If you see unfamiliar persons loitering or vehicles parked in the area and find it suspicious in nature, regardless of the time of day or night, please call the police department...

Together we can make a difference!

Sort of interesting that the letter implies that the burglars are familiar with thier victims, but asks potential victims to be on the lookout for unfamiliar persons ...hmmmm. Oh if you do see anything, call (626) 744-4241

In Crime News:

Robbers kill a man in Azusa.

Attackers target suspected El Monte Flores gang members at a home in South El Monte

Big Rig tip snarls traffic.

Brush fire burns in West Covina

Gang members get 90 to life for killing teen

In The Blogs:

Monrovia residents asked to be on the lookout for squatters.

RCJ Parry waits alone for Bad Boy

Jamiel Shaw possibly linked to Rollin 20s

MTV wants a blogger of their own.

LAist asks questions about judges.

Unregistered gun at airport lands actor in pokey

Among other things, Aaron Proctor interviews Queen Mickie

Note from Star-news city editor Hector Gonzalez:

That's what reporter Dan Abendschein thought when he first arrived on the scene and *saw several large trucks in Azusa and Glendora were among 46 and 48 vehicles that* had their windows blown out overnight.

"ELF," asked reporer Bethania Palma.

"It was just a crackpot theory," Dan replied.

After he saw a few compacts with the same sort of damage Dan admitted he was bummed out that his "theory" didn't pan out.

Was it teenagers?

"Yeah, I think so," said Dan.

Photographer Keith Durflinger had some interesting moments when he was approached by a woman whose car was damaged.

"I got a picture of a lady and her child. And he's looking at the window that got blown out. She said they saw it on TV and said to herself, 'Hey, is thats our car? Yeah that's our car!'"

Keith later found out that Sarah Barroga haven't been driving the unidentified vehicle. They were going to be selling it...

BTW, Dan shot this photo. He thinks it was on Mauna Loa in Glendora
 

Property records showed that a Sandy Mosley Hamilton lived at the address.

Further details as they happen

If you are a freelance photog you probably want to get a shot of what Yahoo Buzz says are the hottest actors right now:

1		2	Elisha Cuthbert (23)	+196	366	1	Jacinda Barrett	1465%
2		43	Jacinda Barrett (2)	+173	184	2	Natassia Malthe	803%
3		3	Jessica Alba (1158)	-1	86	3	Paula Garces	752%
4		5	Lindsay Lohan (1049)	+5	72	4	Carla Gugino	534%
5		16	Eliza Dushku (2)	+40	72	5	Greta Garbo	433%
6		4	Miley Cyrus (385)	-13	66	6	Monica Keena	430%
7		6	Angelina Jolie (1257)	+3	66	7	Kim Cattrall	318%
8		93	Natassia Malthe (2)	+49	55	8	Dominique Swain	285%
9		89	Paula Garces (2)	+49	55	9	Priyanka Chopra	268%
10		11	Hilary Duff (1307)	+4	53	10	Mallika Sherawat	246%
11		32	Katrina Kaif (112)	+36	51	11	Katrina Kaif	236%

Just don't go to Malibu if you want to get some photos:

From LAObserved:

The seaside city has asked Ken Starr, dean of the Pepperdine Law School, to convene media and legal experts to help draft an ordinance that would control paparazzi swarms around local celebs. They're talking about possible buffer zones and a tax on the photogs. "We're coming up on another summer season. Let's hope we are not in store for another tsunami of paparazzi," Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich says.

Fred Ortega spent some time in Altadena yesterday hoping to put together some of the puzzle surrounding the death of 90-year-old woman: Associated Press filed this. Here's a piece of Fred's story:

ALTADENA - Firefighters doused a blaze at an Altadena home Thursday - and uncovered a murder mystery.

Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are now investigating after firefighters discovered the body of a 90-year-old woman inside the burned Lincoln Avenue home early Thursday.

Detectives said they found blood and other signs of a struggle inside the home in the 3200 block of North Lincoln.

"Right now we have no details about whether she was killed by fire or smoke," said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Ron Haralson.

However, he said the woman's body showed signs of trauma.

And later in the day Thursday, detectives confirmed the woman's death was a homicide.

So this is my suggestion. What if Barak Obama entered public appearances with a theme like WWE wrestlers?

If he did, I would hope he'd pick this James Brown classic, "Funky President (people its bad)"

Here's a sample of the lyrics:

Hey, country
Didn't say what you meant
Just changed
Brand new funky President

Stock market going up
Jobs going down
And ain't no funking
Jobs to be found

Taxes keep going up
I changed from a glass
Now I drink out of a paper cup
It's getting bad

Indeed. Here's someone who had a similar thought.

When I first saw this photo by Watchara Phomicinda, I thought it was somebody wearing a Jimmy Carter mask at Vroman's Wednesday. Turns out, it's just Jimma bein Jimma.

Baldwin Park Police interim Capt. Lili Hadsell* has been officially named Chief of Police, according to city officials.

As far as I know the appointment of Hartsell would make her just the second woman police chief in the San Gabriel Valley if not Los Angeles County, behind Marilyn Diaz of Sierra Madre.

More at Leftovers.

*Tania Chatila says Hadsell is the county's third female chief. Inglewood's Jacqueline Seabrooks is the second.

Here's the latest:

ALTADENA - Homicide detectives are investigating the death of an elderly woman found in a Lincoln Avenue home gutted by fire early Thursday, after blood and other signs of a struggle were found at the scene.

Firefighters were dispatched to the home on the 3200 block of North Lincoln Avenue at about 10 a.m. Thursday and found two rooms of the house in flames, said L.A. County Fire Inspector Ron Haralson.

Firefighters knocked down the fire within minutes and found the dead woman inside, Haralson said.

"Right now we have no details about whether she was killed by fire or smoke," said Haralson, adding that there were signs of trauma on the body. He described the woman as approximately 90 years old and of unknown race, but would not release her identity.

But neighbors and relatives identified the woman as Evelyn Mosley, a 90 year old who lived at the location for about six years with her daughter and teen-aged grandson.

"Oh my God, does Sandy know, does her grandson know?" said Jacqueline Jackson, a neighbor, who broke into tears when she heard the news.

A woman who claimed to be the victim's god-daughter also identified her as Evelyn Mosley, and property records show a Sandy Mosley Hamilton living at the address.

Reporter Fred Ortega is on the scene. Here's what he told me earlier:

ALTADENA -- An elderly woman was found dead at a house in the 3200 block of Lincoln Avenue, after firefighters were dispatched to the home Thursday morning.

The woman, who was not identified as believed to be in her 90s, officials said. Her body showed signs of having suffered trauma.

The fire was reported about 10:00 a.m., according to Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Ron Haralson.

Homicide detectives and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's bomb squad have been dispatched to the scene.

No further details were available.

Robert Parry's post on the Foothill Cities Blog got me thinking about Internet anonymity and how important it is to people visiting and commenting on blogs. Centinel has another post addressing the same issue from a different perspective here.

Granted, the nature of the newspaper business is anything but anonymous.  My name is on every story I write or contribute to and my picture is here on the blog and in the paper twice a week. Taking this a step further, we shy away from sources we can't name.

But blogs are different. You choose to come here, you choose to comment and you choose to take on whatever identity you want. That said, this site does keep track of IP addresses of commenters and I have (from time to time) looked at and compared those IP addresses.

I have not (and will not) share that information with anyone. Other than me, there are approximately five people that have access to this site's IP information -- none of them are even remotely interested in finding out who you are, in fact the recent software upgrade has made that task quite a bit more difficult.

I want to know what you think, so I've put together a poll. Feel free to comment as well. 

Jennifer McLain will be reporting this story later today:

 A burlgary ring that involved dozens of homes and a victim who was fired on by a suspect was broken this week. The Temple City's Sheriff's Department arrested four people, including one female, who were led the ring. The woman was arraigned today at the Alhambra Courthouse.

Jen says the ring was operating in Rosemead, Monterey Park and Temple City. More on this as it becomes available.

Here's the top of a story I just filed for tomorrow's newspaper:

The District Attorney's Office added 29 more charges Wednesday to its case against a Covina man accused of using Craigslist and eBay to scam renters and potential investors.

Prosecutors accuse Pardeep Singh, 30, of defrauding 22 potential renters of $2,400 each. Wednesday's filing follows a seven-count criminal complaint brought against Singh last week. He remains at large.

Two of the counts in the amended complaint involve the suspected theft of $185,000 from Kenneth Yandoli, a Glendale man.

"I hope something comes of it," said Jennifer Yandoli, who along with her husband loaned Singh $100,000 in September in exchange for a trust deed on Singh's Covina home at 5441 N. Calera Ave., according to public records.

Star-News reporter Melissa Pamer asked Monrovia Councilman Tom Adams about allegations *someone in his office* has been posting attacks against the Monrovia Police Officers Association on the Foothill Cities Blog. Blogger Robert Parry claims that *the poster* has assumed the name Hay, Bad Boy and Tom Edwards in those posts.

Here's what Adams wrote about the controversy in an email this afternoon:

"there are approximately 120 people who work for the Adams & Barnes Companies, anyone who may go to the internet, either on one of the company owned computers or one of their own attached to our network. We also have run press releases informing the public that our wifi is open to the public as a service, for free. Anyone of them can go to the internet through our network. Although I am not surprised that Mr. Parry has gone to this much trouble to find out basically nothing other than he thinks someone blogged from our internet connection. The real issue has not changed. The Monrovia Police Union through some of their supporters have done all they can to attempt to embarrass the council or city manager. Telling the world that Mr. Parry thinks someone from my office blogged will not get the Police Union any more money. One part that was a little sad is that Mr. Parry's attack came at a meeting when anyone who reads agendas knew I would not be there to respond. Baseless attacks always work better when no one can `respond. Perhaps if Mr. Parry wants transparency on his blog he should post all of the bloggers IP addresses and locations, but then that is not his goal."

 

I doubt there's any statistics to prove or disprove this theory, but I think the number of police chases increases nationally when new versions of Grand Theft Auto are released.

The latest version of the game, Grand Theft Auto IV was released a couple of weeks ago, and all of a sudden, it seems that I'm reading about more and more pursuits.

Here's some examples:

Video shows police beating restrained suspects.

Police pursuit ends in arrest.

Police pursuit ends at LA Harbor.

Police pursuit requires air support.

San Diego cops chase man after he steals three copies of GTA IV

Coincidence?

Robert Parry goes on the attack over at Foothill Cities, focusing on a series of emails to him and comments on blog entries directed at the Monrovia POA.

It's a lengthy dissertation, but the gist of his post (and apparently comments before the Monrovia City Council Tuesday night) is that someone who works in Monrovia City Councilman Tom Adams' Real Estate office doesn't like cops.

Here's a picture of Adams and an excerpt from Parry's post:

Is Councilman Thomas E. Adams, in fact, Tom Edwards, Hay and Bad Boy? If not, who in his office would say such vile, nasty things, and why would he associate with them?

Does he believe that the police officers of this City are no better than thieves, taking money from people with their guns?

Does he believe our police officers are lazy, worth no more than $15 an hour, and no different from criminals, except for their badges?

Does he really believe that sergeant Verna was hurt by a donut, not the bullet of a felon who was trying to kill him?

And, finally, how long has Mr. Adams harbored these anti-cop sentiments, and how have they impacted his judgment when these officers have asked to be paid at the average of their counterparts in other cities?

Reading the Daily Bulletin article about Pomona's new restrictions on sex offenders got me thinking about a drawing called "Ecology of Fear." It's an unvarnished urban planners guide to community mapping in our region.

The drawing actually comes from Mike Davis' 1999 book of the same name. Her's a partial review of the book from Publisher's Weekly that I found on Amazon:

This comes from Monica Rodriguez at the Daily Bulletin:

POMONA - It's now difficult, if not impossible, for registered sex offenders to move here.

City Council members have unanimously approved an urgency ordinance that essentially prevents additional registered sex offenders from moving into the city.

Under the new regulation, just about every part of the city would be excluded.

Pardeep Singh has left quite a trail of financial destruction in his wake.

You might remember Singh as the Covina man who rented out his home to several unsuspecting tenants via Craigslist.

Turns out he may have taken a friend for at least $100,000 as well. The friend, Kenneth Yandoli, of Glendale, said he gave Singh $100,000 in return for a deed of trust in the home at 5541 Calera Avenue in Covina.

Then we stumbled upon this great discussion of Singh and his LLC on a couple of websites including the TUG BBS, a group for Timeshare users.

Perhaps the best tidbits of information came from Singh's user profile on eBay. As well as this auction for a nonexistent property near the Las Vegas strip.

We're going to stay on top of this for the rest of the week. I'm still waiting for calls back from eBay, the Las Vegas PD, IC3 and the FBI, no doubt Singh is on all their radar screens.

Chuck Hubbs, who was the night city editor at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when I was a copy boy there, always had me running weekend casualty counts.

Every Friday and Saturday, just when I'd be getting ready to leave, he would exhort in his unmistakably deep voice. "Check those wires kid. See how many bodies have piled up."

I'd rip pieces of printer paper from machines that spit out copy from the Metro Wire and City News services and run them back to Chuck so that he could compile a daily body count for an inside page.

Some weekends were slow with one or two slayings. Others seemed quite busy; with eight, 10, even 15 killings.

I wonder how many of those even got solved?

This past weekend undoubtedly would have qualified as a slow one. And yet, it could have been quite deadly.

Young men were injured in shootings in Whittier and Pico Rivera.

A few other teens might have taken bullets in Baldwin Park. But somehow they were luckier than Jose Perez, 16. The Baldwin Park High student was shot to death talking to a friend outside a home in the 5000 block of Maine Avenue Saturday night.

By my count, Perez is the second student from that high school to succumb to gun violence this school year. That seems awfully high.

In November, Baldwin Park High student Luis Estrada, 14, and his father Pedro were gunned down by four attackers in front of their home in the 4000 block of Downing Avenue.

Three teens, all former Baldwin Park students, have been arrested in the case, officials said. A fourth remains at large. Gang rivalry apparently motivated the incident.

As they did in the Estrada case, school administrators promised Monday to provide grief counseling to anyone who needed it at Baldwin Park High School.

"The school will of course do something for the students who need the services," said Lynne Kennedy, associate superintendent for student achievement in the Baldwin Park district.
Although there is absolutely no indication that Perez had gang ties, it's pretty clear his attackers used gang tactics. Witnesses said the men drove slowly north on Maine Avenue. They flipped a U-turn, drove up to Perez and opened fire.

Because Perez had only just enrolled at Baldwin Park, and was killed on a Saturday night far away from campus, Kennedy claimed the slaying reflects more on the community at large than on the high school.

"You have to expect these things," she said. "There's crime in the city and there's going to be fall over to students who attend the school."

Kennedy also claimed that there is no gang problem at Baldwin Park High School, even as she pointed to the city's tenacious problem with three notorious groups.

This morning (as I do most mornings) I know I'll drive along Puente Avenue past Baldwin Park High on my way to work.

I'll watch the kids pass and wonder who is going to college? Who is going to Iraq? Or Afghanistan? Who is going to get married, settle down in town and raise another generation of students?

I'll have another question on my mind this morning though: Who will be the next name in my casualty count?

Pasadena city government took a step closer Monday to enacting one of the nation's toughest anti-smoking laws.

Basically smokers will become pariahs on sidewalks, at ATMs, bus stops, and everywhere else in town that isn't the 210 Freeway.

Fred Ortega's filed a nice story summing up where the proposal stands, and has a blog entry on the subject too.

Others discussing it this a.m. include Aaron Proctor, Nosmoking Pasadena. I'll update this list as Google alerts me!

As for me, I'm still wondering how you enforce this sort of thing with an already understaffed police department. Are they enforcing laws against prostitution in the city's massage parlors?

Is the PD out there agressively arresting dope dealers? What about people who run red lights?

This accident occurred last Wednesday on Orange Avenue in West Covina. A firefighter got pretty mad at me for snapping the picture out of my window.

He thought I would cause another accident.

Still, you have to wonder what happened here?  These cars are pretty close to the curb aren't they?

This is a photo of Pardeep Singh wanted for his role in a Craigslist scam gone bad.

Amanda Baumfeld has been all over this story and plans on filing an update this afternoon. In the meantime here's a snippet of what she wrote for Friday's newspaper:

This is a very well put together scam," said Capt. Joe Hartshorne of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "The families are truly victims. They could not have seen this coming."

A hold has been placed on Singh's passport and a silver Volvo left in the driveway has been impounded, officials said.

Renters began learning of the apparent fraud Monday night.

The Los Angeles Times didn't touch the story in its print version, but did post a blog entry at LA Now.  The story is accurate, but we're wondering where they got the picture of a "For Rent " sign.

None of the photographers or reporters who actually visited the scene at 5441 Calera Avenue saw a sign quite like that.

Took several photos over the past week (while the blog was down). Here's the first in the series:.

ICE agents get ready to take down a warehouse in Industry as part of an ongoing investigation. The agents were serving a warrant that was sealed. Not sure what they were looking for. They were surprised to see me and wanted to know how I got tipped off to the raid.

I responded "It's kind of hard not to notice 30 black Fords in the same parking lot as a bunch of guys wearing ICE jackets."

Aaron Proctor's increasingly infantile "Ham and Egger" award went to the entire staff of the Star-News last week.

Apparently he thought that because our computer system took a nose dive, the reporters and editors weren't working hard enough to get the paper out.

Looks like what's really not working hard enough is Aaron's printer. The award, which was enclosed in an envelope handed to me this a.m. by none other than Larry Wilson, is a black and white facsimilie of the color job Fred Ortega received last week.

Reporter Caroline An took one look and said, "What kind of cheap print job is that?"

Judge for yourself, I've posted my copy on a pillar next to my desk.

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From Brian Day's story:

BALDWIN PARK -- A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday, authorities said.

Jose Perez of Baldwin Park was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack, which was reported about 9:15 p.m. in the 5000 block of Maine Avenue, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Rick Pedroza.

Perez's body was found across the street from a house party in the residential neighborhood, but police don't believe the party and the shooting were related.

A description of the shooter or the shooter's vehicle was not available.

Carlos Sanchez, 28, a life-long area resident, said he was standing with Perez minutes before the shooting occurred.

Sanchez said he had just gone over to the party across the street to get some food when people started shouting about a shooting.

Just minutes after posting a rant of sorts on my temporary site, Crime Scene has come back to life. Thanks for jumping from site to site with me. We'll try this out for the weekend and see how it works. As for the meaningless rant?

It's here.

POMONA - A Monrovia gang member was sentenced to death this afternoon for the kidnap and murder of a 20-year-old Cal Poly Pomona student. James Winslow Dixon slashed the throat of 20-year-old Christina Burmeister in August 2001. A jury convicted him of the crime earlier this year and recommended he receive the death penalty.

Woman shot to death, another injured

I'm posting there for now