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Cameron Trute, 32
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Jorge Lorenzo, 19
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Zachary Leon, 19
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Steven Ramirez, 25
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Unidentified Latina, 30
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Santos Pastor
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Times coverage: Woman guilty of killing young sons, husband
A Rowland Heights woman was convicted in the deaths of her husband and two small children on Thursday and could face the death penalty.
Three years ago, Manling Tsang Williams was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with her family's killing.
She told authorities that on Aug. 7, 2007, she had come home from grocery shopping about 7:30 a.m. when she discovered her family dead. At the time, neighbors told The Times that Williams, a 31-year-old Asian woman, ran from her house screaming that her husband had been injured.
When Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrived and searched the house, they found the bodies of Neal Williams, a 27-year-old white man; Devon Williams, a 7-year-old boy; and Ian Williams, a 3-year-old boy.
Prosecutors said in court that Manling Tsang Williams stabbed her husband to death with a sword and then smothered their two sons, who were in their bunk beds in an upstairs bedroom, with a pillow.
Reporter Rick Rojas has more on the story: Woman found guilty of three counts of murder in Rowland Heights slaying
Photo: Manling Tsang Williams. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
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Conviction: 202 years for one defendant in Masonic Lodge killings
Izac McCloud, a 19-year-old black man, was convicted last month of two counts of second-degree murder and 46 counts of assault. On Oct. 7, McCloud was sentenced to the maximum term of 202 years to life in state prison, according to a press release from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Officials said that McCloud and co-defendant Jonzel Stringer, a 22-year-old black man, were among a group of more than 400 people who attended a birthday party at the Lakewood Masonic Lodge on Jan. 19, 2008.
Stringer got into a fight inside the lodge, came outside, and told McCloud to shoot. Standing outside a window, McCloud fired a handgun 10 times at partygoers inside, the prosecution alleged.
In the midst of the gunfire, Dennis Moses, a 17-year-old black man, and Breon Taylor, a 15-year-old black girl, were hit. The two were taken to a local hospital where they died the next day, authorities said. Another teenager was shot but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
In addition to serving life in prison, Long Beach Superior Court Judge Mark Kim ordered McCloud to pay $4,472.43 to the surviving victim and $2,716.10 to Moses' mother.
McCloud was further ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the state Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
Stringer was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder on Sept. 21. He is expected to be sentenced Nov. 16.
— Sarah Ardalani
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Conviction: 26 years to life for killer of Cal State Long Beach student
Jonathan Huynh, a 22-year-old Asian man from Costa Mesa, was sentenced last month to 26 years to life in prison.
Huynh was convicted Sept. 15 in the first-degree murder of Kate Su Yi, a 20-year-old Asian woman and Cal State Long Beach student.
Prosecutors alleged that on March 31, 2009, Huynh killed Yi after she broke up with him. Evidence presented at trial showed that she was strangled, in addition to suffering non-fatal stab wounds to the back of her head and neck.
Two days after the killing, Yi’s body was found in a closet in her apartment, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Long Beach Superior Court Judge Tomson Ong ordered Huynh to pay $15,319.14 in restitution to Yi’s family as well as $7,500 to the state Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
—Sarah Ardalani
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Funeral services for Aaron Shannon, 5-year-old shot on Halloween
Authorities are reaching out to the public to invite mourners to the funeral services for Aaron Shannon Jr., the 5-year-old boy who was fatally wounded by suspected gang members Halloween afternoon.
The viewing is scheduled for Thursday at the Simpson Family Mortuary, located at 3443 West Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood. It will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.
The church service will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the City of Refuge, located at 14527 South San Pedro Street in Gardena.
Following the service, Aaron will be buried at the Inglewood Park Cemetery at 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood.
Aaron was in his family's backyard showing off his Spider-Man costume at about 2 p.m. on Oct. 31 when two men walking nearby fired multiple rounds into the yard. Aaron was struck in the head, while his uncle and grandfather suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Immediately after the shooting, the boy was taken to a hospital, where he remained until his death the next day.
Officials have since made two arrests in connection with the case: Marcus Denson, an 18-year-old black man, and Leonard Hall Jr., a 21-year old black man. Both are being held on $1-million bail after they were apprehended by Los Angeles police detectives. Investigators said they believe the gang members had mistaken the backyard for the location they intended to fire on.
— Sarah Ardalani
Photo credits: Los Angeles Police Department via KTLA News
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Times coverage: Video footage contradicts federal marshal's testimony of a fatal shooting
The Times' Column One article Nov. 10 was on a 2008 homicide case in which an off-duty federal marshal argued that he fatally shot a man in self-defense.
Reporter Scott Glover explores the death investigation and various witness accounts of what happened that fateful evening, as well as reveals surveillance camera footage that sheds light on the shooting.
Matthew Itkowitz, an off-duty deputy U.S. marshal, was being beaten and threatened with a gun in an alley off Melrose Avenue when, in fear for his life, he managed to draw his own weapon and fatally shoot his attacker.
At least, that's the story Itkowitz told Los Angeles police.
What really happened that night in the Fairfax district is less clear-cut. Witnesses' accounts of what happened before the shooting vary. But footage from a surveillance camera, which has never been made public, calls into question the deputy marshal's claim of self-defense. A copy of the tape was reviewed by The Times.
The footage of the March 5, 2008, encounter, coupled with other evidence from the scene, raises a disturbing possibility: that a drunk cop fatally shot a man in the back to settle a score.
Whether prosecutors see it that way is another matter.
Read more: Federal marshal's description of fatal shooting conflicts with video footage
Watch: View the video footage
Photo: This video frame from a surveillance camera shows a confrontation between off-duty Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Itkowitz, left, and Ryan Gonzalez on March 5, 2008, in an alley off Melrose Avenue. Gonzalez was shot and killed during the confrontation. This frame shows the muzzle flash from the first shot fired by Itkowitz.
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Benefit concert to establish scholarship in memory of slain teen
Friends and family of Edwinta Hereford, a 19-year-old black woman who was found dead on the side of a freeway in May, are holding a benefit memorial concert this weekend.
The event will be held Saturday at the Shield of Faith Church, located at 1750 W. Holt Ave., in Pomona. It will begin at 6 p.m. and feature music performances by B. Alexander and Kingdom Worship, the Tim Peterson Singers, T.C. Bereal and the Greater Los Angeles Cathedral Choir, as well as other guest music artists.
The concert proceeds are intended to fund a scholarship her mother, Monette Hereford, is establishing in her daughter's name. "Winnie loved to help people and I want her name to continue [on]," she said.
Hereford, an aspiring model, at one time attended San Bernardino Valley College and had plans to return to school at the time of her death.
Her body was found by a passerby in the early morning hours of May 16 on the side of 105 Freeway. Authorities said Hereford had been pushed from a speeding car driving east on the road.
Sheriff's homicide investigators had to ask for the public's help to identify her body, describing a distinctive tattoo on her back.
At the time, coroner's officials said that they had not yet determined whether Hereford was killed when she was thrown from the vehicle or was killed elsewhere and her body left on the roadway. Coroner's office this week said the cause of death was still deferred.
Her mother said authorities have yet to make an arrest in connection with her death and have told her they have few to no leads. Monette Hereford said she continues to ask that her daughter's killer surrender to law enforcement officials.
She also is asking for the public's help to find those responsible for the crime.
"It happened to my daughter; it could happen to their daughter," she said.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the scholarship fund may do so at any US Bank under the ECH Winnie Memorial account, or attend the concert.
Anyone with information about the death of Edwinta Hereford should contact the sheriff's homicide bureau at (323) 890-5629. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
— Sarah Ardalani
Photo: Monette Hereford and her surviving children stand near a picture of her slain daughter, Edwinta Hereford, during a press conference on May 25 at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
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Times coverage: Friends and family grieve at Aaron Shannon Jr.'s funeral service
Hundreds of people gathered Friday at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena to mourn the death of Aaron Shannon Jr., the 5-year-old boy fatally shot by suspected gang members on Halloween.
Those close to Aaron remembered him as a friendly boy who had made numerous friends — with students, faculty and the crossing guard — at Caldwell Elementary School in Compton, where he was enrolled in kindergarten.
"The world gained a son," Aaron's grandfather, William Shannon, said at Friday's funeral service. "He belongs to everyone now."
Times staff writer Scott Gold has more on L.A. Now: Community mourns 5-year-old fatally shot on Halloween
Photo: Beverly Cooper, in yellow, the mother of Aaron Shannon Jr., 5, is comforted during the funeral service at City of Refuge Church in Gardena.
Credit: BarbaraDavidson / Los Angeles Times
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Conviction: Man found guilty of 2007 Stevenson Ranch killing
Michael Dean Stephens, a 21-year-old white man, was convicted Tuesday in the 2007 Stevenson Ranch death of Joshua Pipho.
Stephens was found guilty on one count of second-degree murder; however, the jury was unable to come to a decision on an attempted murder charge involving a second victim who was stabbed more than a dozen times but survived.
After the jury announced that it was deadlocked on the second charge, Judge Daniel Feldstern declared a mistrial. A decision on whether to retry the attempted murder count is expected to be announced later.
Pipho was among a group of young men who got into a fight with another group at a condominium complex on Nov. 24, 2007. The dispute "got out of hand," said Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg. About 10 to 15 people were involved in the melee, which culminated with Pipho's killing.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Sedgwick argued in court that Pipho, a 20-year-old white man, was stabbed and then run over by a car driven by Stephens.
His sentencing is scheduled Dec. 2 at North Valley Superior Court. He faces up to 17 years to life in prison.
— Sarah Ardalani
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Hector Rocha-Rizo, 19
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Robert Thomas , 21
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Cesar Pino Vazquez, 65
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Terrance Scott, 36
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Rosa Bran Enriquez, 44
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Leslie Ramirez, 2
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