Deputy ‘Devastated’ by Arrest in Probe of Prostitute Deaths

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, who sometimes preached as a lay minister to county jail inmates, was described Saturday by a lawyer as “stunned and devastated” at his arrest as a suspect in the murder of three South-Central area prostitutes.

While an investigation into the killings continued, Rickey Ross, 40, was held for his own protection in an isolated cell at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Parker Center headquarters.

Both police and prosecutors were unusually secretive Saturday in discussing details of the charges that might be filed against Ross at his expected arraignment on Monday. Officials said Ross is only one of a “number of suspects” in a string of up to 12 prostitute murders over the last four years. They would not even confirm the number of victims.

Said Deputy Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris, who is in charge of the Ross case: “It’s safe to say the LAPD is working full blast this weekend.”

According to the LAPD, Ross, a veteran sheriff’s narcotics officer, was stopped by police in the company of a prostitute in South-Central Los Angeles early Thursday. The unidentified woman told officers he had frightened her.

A search of Ross’ car allegedly revealed two guns, and police said ballistics tests of one pistol matched those of the bullets in the murder of three prostitutes, Judith Simpson, 27; Cynthia Walker, 35, and Latanya Johnson, 24.

The circumstances of Ross’ arrest clashed dramatically with the image he had built over an 18-year career with the Sheriff’s Department, where he was praised as an excellent narcotics officer and a devout Christian known for delivering spontaneous religious sermons at the county jail. Ross, who is married with two children, was described by colleagues as “a good will ambassador” for the Sheriff’s Department while on duty.

Ross had undergone a remarkable life style change in the past 18 months or so. He and his family moved from a rent-free apartment above an auto salvage yard in Gardena to a $255,000 Spanish-style house overlooking a golf course in the San Bernardino County community of Rialto.

For more than eight years, Ross led 90 to 130 inmates in a popular weekly Bible study class at the county jail. He quit without explanation about a year ago.

“He just stopped coming,” said the Rev. Bennie Newton, the Protestant chaplain at the jail. “The men liked him very much. I never noticed that Ross had any vendetta against anyone or had any undercurrent of meanness.”

One of Ross’ neighbors, James Crawford, said he watched Ross’ arrest Thursday afternoon, then went the next day to the house and held a prayer vigil with Ross’ wife, Sylvia.

“I wasn’t there to question her, just to support her,” Crawford said Saturday.

While there were few new details Saturday about the murder case, LAPD officials disclosed that the arrest of Ross was the result of a routine traffic stop by a training officer and a rookie patrolman just four months out of the Police Academy.

The LAPD rookie, Mike Acevedo, and his training partner, Ron (Snoopy) Smith, were praised by LAPD spokesman William Booth for their “outstanding police work.”

Booth refused to say whether investigators expect to link any more prostitute slayings to a single suspect. He noted that the LAPD has investigated the murders of 69 prostitutes during the last four years and another 30 killings involving women in “street murders.”

Responding to criticisms by neighborhood groups that the LAPD has been too slow in releasing details of the estimated dozen killings that may be connected in South-Central, Booth said the LAPD does not want to jeopardize the case.

“For our purposes, we’re looking at 99 murders citywide. We investigate every one of them. We want to solve every one. It’s a myth in some people’s minds that we don’t want to solve them,” he said.

Booth declined to give details about the guns involved in the shootings in the South-Central area, but police sources have said the gun linked to Ross and three of the recent killings was a 9-millimeter pistol.

While Ross remained in police custody Saturday he was visited by several lawyers, including Encino attorney Richard A. Shinee, who said he will serve as Ross’ lawyer in connection with any administrative moves by the Sheriff’s Department against him.

“Mr. Ross is stunned and devastated by the charges,” Shinee said. He declined any other comment.

Ross, housed alone in an 8-by-10-foot cell, also met with representatives of Los Angeles attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who said he is considering representing Ross.

Parker Center Jail Watch Comdr. Eugene Hovelsen said Ross was placed in isolation as part of standard policy for law enforcement officers who are arrested on felony charges.

Staff writers Bettina Boxall, Michael Connelly, John Dart, George Stein and Robert Welkos contributed to this article.