The Region : 3 Teen-Agers Held in Slaying of Girl, 16

Three teen-agers have been arrested in the slaying of a Santa Ana girl who was shot to death after she was robbed of her purse near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, police said. The suspects are a 14-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and Carlos Chavez, 18, who investigators believe fired the fatal shot, Detective Vernon King said. “Why they wanted to shoot the victim of their robbery I have no idea,” King said. The suspects live near the Coliseum, but detectives have not been able to determine if they were gang members. Suzanne Mohr Coleman, 16, died early Sunday after she was struck in the head by one of two rifle shots apparently fired from the roof of an apartment building, King said. The shooting occurred while Suzanne, her boyfriend, Christopher Barth, 18, of Fountain Valley, and a parking lot attendant were searching an alley for Suzanne’s handbag, containing about $2, which two youths had taken at knifepoint in the parking lot. Detectives recovered a rifle believed to be the murder weapon, King said.