Two Held in Slaying of Shopkeeper : Tip Leads to Corona Suspects in Shooting, Robbery Try

An anonymous tip and four months of investigation led to the arrest of a man and woman from Corona in connection with the murder and attempted robbery last year of a Garden Grove doughnut shop owner, police said Friday.

Lloyd Raynor Green, 23, and Stella Silva Reyes, 27, were arrested by Garden Grove police officers about 4 p.m. Thursday at their home in Corona, said Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp of the Garden Grove Police Department.

Green and Reyes were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder and attempted robbery in the Aug. 15 shooting death of Chhing Sou Yong, 33, of Gardena during an early-morning incident in the Winkles Donuts shop his family owned in Garden Grove, Beauchamp said.

Yong was shot after he resisted two people disguised in hoods, believed to be male, who entered the shop and demanded money, Beauchamp said. The assailants immediately fled, and a shop employee telephoned police from a neighboring supermarket. Yong died from an abdominal wound shortly after being transported to a hospital, Beauchamp said.

About a month later, Garden Grove police received an anonymous tip that Green was one of the two hooded individuals, Beauchamp said.

Police launched an intensive investigation that included surveillance of Green’s residence, he said, adding that police believe Reyes was driving the getaway vehicle, so she is charged with being an accomplice. Beauchamp said “the investigation is still in progress to try to determine the exact identity” of the second male involved in the killing.

Garden Grove officers went to Green’s Corona residence about 4 p.m. Thursday after receiving an arrest warrant for Green and a search warrant, Beauchamp said.

Reyes answered the door and allowed officers to enter the house after they presented the search warrant, Beauchamp said.

After searching the main part of the house for Green, officers decided they also wanted to look in the attic, but “the attic door wouldn’t open,” Beauchamp said. After some hard pushing and “hollering,” the weight on the attic door moved off, he said.

“It was Green, hiding from us in the attic,” he said.