Local News in Brief : Murder Motive Sought

Homicide detectives were seeking a motive in the killing of a 14-year-old boy whose bullet-riddled body was found in the old Baldwin Hills Dam dry reservoir.

Ardis Brooks, an eighth-grader, was found lying next to a wall about 200 yards from the end of Punta Alta Road in the Baldwin Hills State Recreation Area, Detective Frank Bowen said. Strollers found the fully clothed victim late Wednesday night and called authorities.

Investigators worked throughout the night at the scene, using a mobile lighting truck, in their search for clues in the boy’s death. The youth, whose parents are separated, had stayed alternately with his mother in Inglewood and his father in South-Central Los Angeles, Bowen said.

“He was shot multiple times, and we do not know why,” Bowen said.