Woman Stomped to Death on Skid Row

A 49-year-old woman died after being viciously stomped by a homeless man on skid row in a case that city officials said Tuesday underscores the need to improve conditions in the troubled district.

Authorities are trying to determine the relationship between the suspect and his alleged victim, Kristi Morales. Witnesses said he knocked her to the ground last Wednesday just after 9 p.m. near 5th and San Julian streets and stomped her for several minutes.

Police said a passerby attempted to intervene three times, but each time, the suspect, 52-year-old Gregory Hampton, knocked the Good Samaritan to the ground and continued beating Morales.

Eventually, the passerby flagged a passing police officer, who arrested Hampton.

But it was too late for Morales, who was brain dead, according to authorities.

Doctors took her off life support and she died late Monday.

Law enforcement sources said Morales had battled drug addiction for some time and that her family had tried on several occasions to intervene, renting an apartment for her in South Pasadena and paying for several trips to rehab, including a $60,000 stay at a high-end facility. Investigators believe that she may have been having a relapse at the time of her death.

Hampton has a criminal record dating back more than 30 years, with at least 42 arrests as an adult for violence, narcotics and burglary.

The killing comes as city leaders are trying to crack down on crime in skid row and as the adjoining neighborhoods continue to attract loft dwellers and new luxury condos.

One key issue that Police Chief William J. Bratton and others said the city needs to address is the thousands of parolees who end up calling skid row home.

Authorities said this was the fourth death on skid row that police linked to state parolees.

“For years, we have worked hard to bring attention to the plight of the homeless and to focus on getting vulnerable people that need our help into housing,” Councilwoman Jan Perry said.

She and others said skid row is a combustible mix of people who are down on their luck and others -- many of them parolees -- who prey on them.

“All the while, state parole is using the same area as a preferred site for their parolees and losing track of their clients. This must stop now.... We need to get a handle on this before more people lose their lives,” Perry said.

Court documents show that Hampton was arrested by Los Angeles police on a parole violation in March after failing to report to his parole officer. He was released from the Los Angeles County Jail 10 days later.

It’s unclear why Hampton was released and whether he was under supervision of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation when the attack occurred.

The department of corrections did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment, and police officials said that they have been frustrated by the department’s lack of cooperation in their investigation of Morales’ death.

At a news conference Tuesday, Bratton called Hampton “a career criminal preying on society.”

“He should not have been on the street,” Bratton said.

The killing, Bratton said, “highlights once again the plight of the homeless on a day-to-day basis, living and sleeping on the streets at night.”

Capt. Andrew Smith of the Central Division described the beating as savage but also expressed frustration that Morales had not sought refuge in one of the dozens of beds that would have been available to her in a shelter that evening.

“She chose to stay out there,” he said. “She had other options.”

Police and city officials are grappling with a recent U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a law banning sleeping on the sidewalk is cruel and unusual punishment because there are not enough shelter beds for the homeless. Smith said officers were waiting for instructions from the Los Angeles city attorney about how to proceed.

The attack occurred hours after community leaders and police walked the streets of skid row in what has become a monthly event to alert people to the conditions of the area and to try to persuade homeless people to seek help from the shelters and missions in the area.

“We were only able to get two people off the street that night,” said Estela Lopez, head of the Central City East Assn. “When is this going to end?”