Woman, 67, Slain in Home in Gang-Related Shooting

A 67-year-old woman was shot and killed Tuesday night inside her Southwest Los Angeles home, apparently an innocent victim of gang rivalry, authorities said.

Alma Lee Washington, who was wheelchair-bound because of partial paralysis, was pronounced dead at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center from a gunshot wound in the face.

Her nephew, Donald Shepard, 19, who resides in the same house as Washington, was reported in serious but stable condition with gunshot wounds.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said the intended victim was Shepard and the motive was gang rivalry.

Neighbors said Shepard was trying to protect his aunt, who was sitting in the doorway when the shooting occurred shortly before 7 p.m.

Deputies later arrested Michael McGreggor, 19, of Los Angeles, on suspicion of murder.

Investigators said the suspect, a gang member, had driven to the house in the 1100 block of West 121st Street and fired from the street toward the doorway. He was captured a few blocks away by members of the sheriff’s anti-gang detail.

Cheryl Norwood, who lives two doors down from Washington, said the house had been shot at in the past, the first incident taking place last summer.

“Before that, it had been quiet around here,” she said.

“I just heard the shot. By the time I got outside, they had pushed her into the kitchen. He (Shepard) was hit trying to protect her.”

Norwood said Washington had lived in the house for more than 15 years.

“She had been in a wheelchair since she lived here. She had had a stroke and was paralyzed . . . She was a nice old lady.”