6 Suspects in Girls’ Slayings Belong to Extra-Vicious Gang

Six suspects arrested in the drive-by slayings of two South-Central Los Angeles teen-agers on Monday night have been identified as members of the Eight-Trey Gangster Crips, a particularly violent group that gang workers say deals heavily in rock cocaine.

Five of the suspects were taken into custody late Monday at a “rock house” at 13132 S. Vermont Ave., shortly after two girls were gunned down in an apparent case of mistaken identity involving a drug rip-off, police said. A sixth suspect was arrested early Tuesday morning at a home near the rock house.

At least two of the gang members had faced earlier murder charges that were reduced to manslaughter convictions, according to court records. Another had two prior armed robbery convictions, and at least two of the gang members had previous drug convictions, records showed.

One suspect, Dayon Darren Lively, was due back in court July 20 to report on his progress in a drug-diversion program. Lively, 20, had been placed in the probationary program after his arrest for possession of rock cocaine in March, 1987.

“Obviously he failed the test,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. James Heins.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles homicide detectives were attempting to link the six gang members to a .38-caliber handgun and a 9-millimeter Uzi rifle that were confiscated Tuesday morning from a garage on West 75th Street.

Police believe the guns were used in the slaying of Jamee Finney, 13, and Latonjyia Stover, 18, close friends whose red 1988 Pontiac LeMans was riddled with bullets late Monday at Vernon Avenue and St. Andrews Place. According to police, gang members had been looking for someone else--a woman driving a red 1988 Hyundai--to seek retaliation for a drug rip-off.

Their target was the sister of a drug-dealer who sold them two pounds of white flour as part of a $14,000 “cocaine” deal, said Lt. Joe Freia, chief homicide detective for the 77th Street Division.

When gang members discovered the swindle, they sought the sister and fired shots along the 1700 block of West 46th Street, where the drug dealer lived. They also took a hostage, kidnaping a female go-between who had delivered the flour, according to police.

That hostage ultimately played an important role in the arrests. According to police, gang members raped her, beat her and had her make phone calls to her brother to raise $14,000 in ransom--an amount that would offset their loss in the drug deal, Freia said. Her brother tipped police, who traced one of the ransom calls and arrested five of the gang members at the second-floor rock house on Vermont Avenue.

At the time of the arrest, the hostage reported that gang members talked of killing the two women, investigators said. On Wednesday, police were awaiting autopsies and ballistics tests to confirm the link between the weapons and the two slayings, Freia said.

“We picked up some of the (bullet) casings out at the scene,” the homicide investigator said. He estimated that 10 or 15 shots were fired, several penetrating the car body and others shattering the windshield.

Arrested by police were Lively; Deautri Denard, 25; Lyndell Tyrone Jackson, 27; Vincent Burks, 24; John Jay Porter, 23, and Meredith Yolonda Carter, 19. All but Carter were booked on suspicion of homicide. Carter was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in the beating of the hostage.

Gang workers outside of law enforcement who are familiar with gang operations said the shootings were believed to be the work of the Eight-Trey Gangster Crips, a gang that operates in an area roughly bounded by 62nd Street on the north, Vermont Avenue on the east, Manchester Avenue on the south and Van Ness Avenue on the west.

Reputation for Violence

Police Lt. Bob Ruchoft said the Eight-Trey Gangster Crips are considered to be one of the city’s most violent street gangs because they have a reputation for being ruthless with people who oppose them. At least six homicides--including one other case this year--have been linked to the group since the start of 1987, Ruchoft said.

Sources say the gang has a particularly strong core of older members, many in their early 20s, whose involvement is based on the distribution of rock cocaine.

Police say Monday’s drive-by shootings were a classic example of the way narcotics peddling has influenced gang behavior.

Assistant Police Chief Jesse Brewer said gangs are “more violent and more vicious and more random. It’s madness.”

The gang’s drug sales help to finance the high-powered weapons used in such violence, Brewer said.

Two of the gang suspects--Burks and Jackson--have prior manslaughter convictions, according to court records.

Burks pleaded guilty in October, 1985, to the voluntary manslaughter of Lee Westley Horne, 20, of Inglewood, who was shot once in the head on July 8 of that year, according to court records.

That incident followed an argument involving Burks and several other men over a cocaine transaction, witnesses testified.

Jackson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in December, 1981, and was sentenced to four years in state prison. He also was arrested for selling rock cocaine to an undercover officer in July of last year and arrested again that October for cocaine possession.

He was due to be sentenced in the drug cases next month, authorities said.

Another suspect, Denard, had received a five-year sentence for armed robbery and the use of a gun in committing a felony stemming from a 1981 incident at a bar at Western Avenue and 84th Street.

According to court transcripts, Denard--known as “Crazy D”--and an accomplice accosted a patron leaving the bar. After his accomplice knocked the patron down with a gun, Denard grabbed the weapon and pointed it at the patron’s head, asking him if he wanted to die.

Times staff writers Adrianne Goodman and David Haldane contributed to this article.