Long Beach scooter attack: Victim was beloved longtime neighborhood resident

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The woman who was beaten to death with an electric scooter in Long Beach was described by friends as a familiar and beloved longtime fixture in the neighborhood.

Rosa Elena Hernandez, 63, was walking near her own home Monday around 12:30 p.m. when she was fatally attacked by a man she didn't know.

The suspect was arrested later that day and on Tuesday police identified him as Amad Rashad Redding, 27, of Long Beach. He is being held on $2 million bail at the Long Beach City Jail.

During the initial attack a bystander tried to intervene. But at that point, police say, the suspect grabbed a Bird electric scooter from a nearby yard and continued beating Hernandez.

He later fled and Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene.

"She knew everybody in the neighborhood," said longtime friend Dennis Fitzgerald. "She lived here so many years. It's just not right somebody would do such a thing."

Fitzgerald has known Hernandez and her husband for 40 years. At one time they both worked for him, but they were more like family.

Hernandez and her husband were married more than 30 years. They did not have children. She left dinner for him that day before she left the house.

"He's just totally devastated," Fitzgerald said. "He doesn't know what to do."

Hernandez was dropping off a gift at a relative's home when she was attacked in the area of Obispo Avenue and 64th Street.

Redding was arrested later that day just a few blocks away, at a Circle K near Downey Avenue and Artesia Boulevard.

Monday night, shocked friends and family walked from Hernandez's home to where she was brutally attacked.

"Rosa was the neighborhood babysitter. She took care of people's kids. Sweetheart, a loving person, very kind, generous," said neighbor Latoni Robinson.

A GoFundMe page was set up to help Hernandez's family with funeral expenses. To donate, click here.