Granddaughter asks ‘Who would do this?’ after Inglewood woman slain
It seemed to take an eternity for paramedics to arrive after Shamika Shoels’ mother, son and his girlfriend were shot in her Inglewood apartment Tuesday.
When she heard gunshots from her bedroom Tuesday afternoon, she rushed out to see a gunman fleeing down the hallway and her son, Datwan Henderson, 22, clutching his neck and bleeding in the apartment.
She called 911, wrapped a blanket around his neck and ran to the street, screaming for help.
The shooting left Henderson’s girlfriend, Crystallyn “Asia” Nguyen, 18, and Shoels’ mother, Dora Lee Dawson, 68, dead. Henderson was in critical condition with two gunshot wounds, police said.
Justin Marquis Scott, 19, of Compton was booked on suspicion of murder Wednesday and is being held without bail, police said. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Homicide Report: Tracking killings in L.A. County
Scott was arrested after being questioned by police in connection with the shooting in the 11700 block of Crenshaw Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon. He is believed to be the ex-boyfriend of Nguyen, the girlfriend of the surviving victim, Henderson, according to police.
Investigators say they believe the altercation began when Scott approached Henderson at the back of his residence. Scott produced a gun and chased Henderson into his apartment, where Scott shot Henderson, Dawson and Nguyen, police said.
A fourth person was treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, Los Angeles County fire inspector Tony Akins said.
At a vigil Wednesday, dozens of people stood silently as Shoels emotionally recalled the shooting.
Outside the apartment, someone had placed a wooden rocking chair with a sign taped to it saying: “This seat is reserved for Mrs. Dora Dawson.”
“She was a wonderful person,” Shoels said of the mother of four and grandmother to more than 10. “She didn’t deserve this.”
Dawson’s granddaughters described her as a woman with a penchant for western movies.
She was a problem-solver for the family, they said, a woman who kept “everything together.”
“Who would do this?” asked Mercedes Mackbee, 26. “Something is not right.”
Since 2007, 98 homicides have occurred within two miles of 11700 Crenshaw Boulevard, according to the Los Angels Times Homicide Report.
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