'Random murder spree': 2 arrested in LA County shootings that left 4 dead, including teenage boy
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Two alleged gang members have been arrested in connection with a "random murder spree" in southeast Los Angeles County that left four people dead, including a 14-year-old boy, authorities said Tuesday.
The deadly crime spree late Sunday night and early Monday morning involved four separate shootings that happened in just over three hours within a five-mile radius.
"It appears this was a random murder spree, however, homicide investigators have not ruled anything out," L.A. County Sheriff's Capt. Andrew Meyer told reporters at a Tuesday news conference.
The suspects were identified as Gary Garcia, 42, and Timberland Wayne McNeely, 20. (Meyer gave out a different name for McNeely at the news conference.) Homicide detectives believe a third suspect may be at large.
The shootings took place in the cities of Bell, Cudahy and Huntington Park, and in the Florence-Firestone area of South L.A. A red Honda Pilot SUV believed to be involved in the killings has been recovered, authorities said.
Investigators were able to identify the vehicle and its license plate number soon after the homicides, and entered it into a law enforcement database. That information led to a traffic stop in San Bernardino County, where sheriff's deputies took one of the suspects into custody.
The second suspect was identified "through other investigative techniques" and arrested after a SWAT team served a search warrant at a home, Meyer said. The location of the home was not disclosed.
Detectives believe both suspects are gang members.
Garcia, who Meyer said has an extensive criminal record, is being held on $8 million bail and McNeely is being held on $2 million bail, according to booking information.
The shooting that claimed the life of 14-year-old Javier Pedraza Jr. early Monday morning in Cudahy also left another boy wounded and hospitalized in stable condition. That crime scene was just outside the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center on Live Oak Street.
A GoFundMe page has been created in Javier's honor.
The other homicides took place at 11:30 p.m. Sunday in Bell, shortly after 12 a.m. Monday in Florence-Firestone, and just after 2:30 a.m. Monday in Huntington Park.
According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner's offices, 24-year-old Kevin Parada was identified as the victim killed in Bell. A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay for Parada's funeral expenses. A vigil was held in his honor Tuesday evening in the 6000 block of Bear Avenue, where he was shot.
Parada's mother, who identified herself as Teresa, said her son was at a friend's house when he was murdered.
"I am grateful that they caught the killers," she said at the vigil.
The fourth victim was a homeless man who was walking down the street in Huntington Park before he was killed. His name and the name of another deceased victim have been withheld by the medical examiner's office, pending notification of their families.
Anyone with information about the killings was asked to contact the sheriff's Homicide Bureau at at (323) 890-5500.
