Authorities ask for public help in solving fatal gang-related shootings that killed three in 2001
Saying he was confident that pending DNA testing will help identify at least one suspect, a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective Friday asked anyone with information about a trio of 2001 killings in the Compton/Willowbrook areas -- including the death of a 2-year-old girl -- to come forward.
Sheriff's homicide Lt. Hugo Reynaga said the spree of violence occurred over two nights, beginning Aug. 7, 2001, when 22-year-old Richard Lawrence was fatally shot in the 2000 block of North Grape Avenue in Compton.
The motive for the killing is believed to have been "an ongoing war at the time" between a pair of rival street gangs, Reynaga said.
Witnesses provided a basic description of two male suspects in the crime, and sheriff's officials released artist renderings in hopes of generating tips from the public. Reynaga said the suspects were driving a gray Chevrolet Caprice.
The following night, five separate drive-by shootings occurred in what Reynaga said were believed to be retaliation for the killing of Lawrence.
The shootings began in the 13300 block of Largo Avenue, where a victim suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder, Reynaga said. A short time later, a non-injury shooting occurred in the 2300 block of Lucien Street.
A third shooting then occurred in the 13100 block of Willowbrook Avenue, where Stephen Murphy, 22, and his 2-year-old daughter Kali were fatally shot. Authorities said at the time the pair were visiting the girl's grandmother, and Murphy was getting ready to put his daughter in the back seat of his car when the gunfire erupted. Murphy tried to run into the house, but was shot on the front porch. The girl was struck in the head with a bullet and died at a hospital, sheriff's officials said.
Reynaga said Murphy and his daughter were simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they were an accident to the killers who were out there trying to commit murder."
Another shooting occurred a short time later in the 2000 block of West 131st Street, where a 15-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to the head, Reynaga said. After that, a sheriff's deputy came under fire, but was not struck, in the 1900 block of North Anzac Avenue.
Sheriff's officials also released composite drawings of the suspects in that string of shootings. Reynaga said the gold Oldsmobile Cutlass the suspects were driving was later seized by deputies, but no arrests have been made.
He said modern DNA testing was now being done on property found inside the car, and it should be completed soon.
"It's believed that when the results come back, (detectives) believe they'll be able to identify one or more suspects involved in the murder of Stephen and Kali," Reynaga said.
Relatives of Stephen and Kali Murphy attended a late-morning news conference Friday to also urge anyone with information to come forward.
"Steven was an awesome son, a loving father, a loving son, a loving brother," one of them told reporters. "Never had any trouble. He always saw the good in everyone. He was not affiliated with any gang members. He worked hard every day. He was a good employee (at Los Angeles International Airport).
"... His friends still contact me and talk to me til this very day. ... He had good friends, a loving family. And Kali was only 2 years old so you know she was innocent."