3 More Charged in 4 Slayings at Drug House

Three more suspects were charged Monday in connection with the August slaying of four people--including a toddler--at a Lake View Terrace drug house.

The three bring to 11 the number of people charged in connection with the Aug. 28 killings at the heavily fortified drug house in the 11400 block of Wheeler Avenue, authorities said.

Donald Franklin Smith, 32, of Sun Valley was charged Monday with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and three conspiracy allegations, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Janice L. Maurizi.

Smith, who was in the Wheeler Avenue house at the time of the killings, is serving an unrelated 13-year sentence for attempted murder, Maurizi said.

Another suspect, Lamont Gillon, 20, of Van Nuys, was charged with one count of conspiracy to operate a drug center, accessory after the fact and conspiracy to avoid prosecution, Maurizi said. The third suspect, Andrew Settle, 28, of Pacoima, was charged with one count of conspiracy to operate a drug house.

Arrest warrants were issued Monday for the three men, Maurizi said. Gillon and Settle are believed to be in the Los Angeles area, Maurizi said.

Andrew Settle’s brother, John Preston Settle, has also been charged in connection with the killings and is being sought by police.

Andre Louis Armstrong, 31, and James Brown, 43, both of Pacoima, were killed by shotgun blasts inside the house. Lorretha Anderson English, 24, of Seaside and her 28-month-old daughter, Chemise, were hit by gunfire while sitting in their car in front of the house.

Police said the suspects are members of a drug ring that controls the sale of “rock” cocaine in the northeast San Fernando Valley. They said the killings resulted from a power struggle within that organization.