Three men facing murder charges in gang-related shooting death of single mother in South LA
LOS ANGELES - Authorities have identified three alleged gang members who are facing murder charges in the shooting death of a 28-year-old single mom who was stopped at a traffic light in the Manchester Square area of South Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Stacy Spell told reporters Thursday that
James Spencer, 23, Frank Adams, 29, and Darrell Robinson, 26, were arrested May 21 after investigators obtained an "overwhelming amount of video surveillance evidence'' that allowed them to identify the suspects in the April 26 killing of Magali Alberto.
The victim, who worked as a project manager, was waiting at a red light about 12:20 a.m. that morning at Manchester and Denker avenues when she was shot several times while driving home from a small family birthday get-together, according to the police captain, who said the victim didn't know the suspects.
"... The car with the suspects pulled alongside and indiscriminately fired inside the vehicle,'' Spell said. "There's tinted windows and they couldn't have seen who was inside and it was just senseless.''
Alberto was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three were charged Tuesday with murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle or inhabited dwelling and permitting another to shoot from a vehicle, according to Greg Risling of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Spencer is also facing two counts each of attempted murder involving two other victims and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with an additional count of shooting at an occupied vehicle or inhabited dwelling, according to Risling.
Spencer, Adams and Robinson, who are jailed without bail, are set to be arraigned in August at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
The LAPD captain said he hoped that the arrests will bring "some semblance of justice to Magali's family.''
"And although there is no closure because they will not have her back, we can try to bring some relief that justice is being served,'' Spell said.
He noted that the crime was "gang motivated,'' but said investigators were not going to identify the gang to which the three defendants allegedly belong "because we're not going to give recognition or any kind of credibility to them.''
"This is a day to focus on the innocent life that was lost in Magali Alberto,'' the police captain said, as her family members stood nearby wearing T-shirts emblazoned with her photo.
The woman's aunt, who described her niece as a "charismatic, positive person full of life and spunk," said Alberto's young daughter is "inconsolable, all because of some heartless individuals who one day decided to take the life away of an innocent young lady.''
She called her niece's alleged assailants "monsters'' and said she hopes they never see the light of day again.
One of the victim's co-workers said no words could express the pain and anguish that her family members, friends and co-workers have experienced
since she was killed.
"The loss of Magali is beyond words,'' the co-worker said. "The decision to take the life of an innocent human being with no regrets whatsoever is uncalled for. It's always the innocent that gets caught in the middle of the foolish actions of some idiots that have no love for life ... Nobody has the right to take somebody's life the way they did.''