Wilmington man arrested in murder of woman in Long Beach following wild chase that ended in Mar Vista Starbucks

Police say a man who led a wild chase from Long Beach into Los Angeles has been identified as the shooter who killed a woman hours earlier.

Corderell McKnight, 32, of Wilmington, was arrested Sunday night after a pursuit out of Long Beach ended with him running into a Starbucks coffee shop in Mar Vista, according to Long Beach police. McKnight was being pursued by police after he was identified as the suspect who shot a woman in her 30s to death in Long Beach earlier that day.

The woman, who was later identified as 35-year-old Tearra Stocker of Anaheim, was initially reported as a stabbing at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday at a strip mall in the 6600 block of Cherry Avenue in Long Beach. Officers who arrived on the scene found she was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper and lower body. She was taken to a hospital where she died, police said.

Homicide detectives who took over the case determined the woman was sitting in a vehicle within the strip mall when the suspect approached on foot and fired several times at her. Another person in the car with the woman was not hit by the gunfire.

At about 7:15 p.m., police say McKnight was spotted in a vehicle in the 2800 block of Long Beach Boulevard. When officers tried to stop him, McKnight took off and led a chase onto the 405 Freeway, police said. The chase was handed off to the California Highway Patrol after about 20 minutes before ending in Mar Vista, where the suspect was taken into custody by LAPD officers.

McKnight is being held on $2 million bail at Long Beach jail. A court date has not yet been scheduled.

Detectives say McKnight and the woman were long-time acquaintances and that he specifically sought her out and targeted her. Her identity was withheld pending positive identification from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

Anyone with information about the shooting can contact homicide Detectives Ethan Shear and Leonel Valdez at (562) 570-7244.