Local News in Brief : Slaying Suspect Sought as Bloody Car Is Found

A 31-year-old man whose bloodstained car was discovered Friday in central Los Angeles is being sought in connection with the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old North Hollywood girl and the attempted murder of her mother, police said.

North Hollywood Division Lt. Ron LaRue said the suspect, Reyes Nejia Rosales of Los Angeles, was last reported seen by his wife last Tuesday, the day Cathy Velasco, 3, and her mother, Martha Garcia, 27, were found shot and bleeding in the street in the 7200 block of Case Avenue.

LaRue said a warrant for Rosales’ arrest on charges of murder and attempted murder was expected to be drawn up today. LaRue said there may be a second suspect but declined to elaborate.

The girl, who was shot twice, once in the forehead, died Friday at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles. Garcia, who was shot in the neck and chest, remains hospitalized in the intensive care ward at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

Hospital spokeswoman Gail Foy said Garcia’s condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. “She’s alert,” Foy said, and is expected to recover from her wounds.

Case Avenue residents said they saw the mother and child pushed out of a dark blue Chevrolet Camaro at about 9 p.m., LaRue said. A car matching the description and belonging to Rosales was found last Friday in Los Angeles, LaRue said, but the murder weapon has not been located.

“It was obvious the two were shot inside the car,” LaRue said.

LaRue declined to speculate about a motive for the shooting, nor would he say if Rosales knew the victims.