Gang Member Charged in Woman’s Death

A 28-year-old gang member was charged Wednesday with the murder of a Watts-area woman who was killed by a stray bullet fired during a neighborhood feud which pierced the stained-glass window of a church.

Alex Thomas was arrested Monday night, not long after Deloris Allen, 42, was fatally wounded in the head while walking down the aisle of the sanctuary at Union Baptist Church after choir practice. In addition to murder, Thomas was charged with three other felonies, including the attempted murder of Andrew Brim, a 56-year-old member of a rival clan.

Al Albergate, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said Thomas was apprehended as he and other members of one feuding Watts-area family, known as the McGills, were on their way to Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center in search of the wounded Brim.

Not Involved in Feud

Allen, who was not involved in the long-running feud or aware of the gun battle a block from the church, died at the same hospital Tuesday morning, 13 hours after she was shot.

Albergate said it is not known whether Thomas fired the shots that struck Allen or whether Brim did. He said Brim was shot twice in the back after he drove through “McGill territory” earlier Monday evening. Later, Thomas and others fired shots into Brim’s home, provoking a new gun battle that led to Allen’s death, Albergate said.

While Thomas and the others were headed toward the hospital, police, suspecting McGill faction involvement in the shootings, gave chase, causing the gang members to abandon their car near the hospital and scatter, Albergate said.

Hiding Under a Car

Thomas was found hiding under a parked car near 120th Street and Wilmington Avenue, Albergate said. The suspect, who was being held without bail, was charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and firing into an inhabited dwelling. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Compton Municipal Court.

Police have traced the latest eruption of violence between the McGills and the Brims to an incident Sunday, when someone tossed an egg from a car window. The egg missed its target, a young woman, and fell to the grass unbroken. The woman, in turn, picked up the egg, threw it back and splattered the car.

A man emerged from the car, according to police, and beat up the woman. By the next night, shots were being exchanged.

Albergate said Thomas was a known gang member, but he did not elaborate.

Police said their investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible.