Doctors Save Baby of Fatally Wounded Mother
Doctors were able to save the baby of a pregnant woman who was shot and killed by a neighbor as she strolled with a toddler near her Lynwood home, police and witnesses said Thursday.
Antonia Avila, 22, was rushed on Wednesday to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where doctors removed her full-term baby girl, said sheriff’s spokesman Ernie Roop. The baby was in stable condition Thursday.
Avila’s neighbor, Melissa Rivas, 22, was booked on suspicion of murder, Roop said.
Rivas and her boyfriend, Ray Villuu, 20, were arguing outside Rivas’ Euclid Avenue home about 1 p.m. Wednesday when Villuu allegedly struck Rivas, Roop said. Rivas grabbed a pistol from inside the home and allegedly fired several rounds toward Villuu.
Villuu, who was booked on suspicion of battery, was not hurt. But a bullet struck Avila in the back as she was walking nearby with a toddler in a stroller, Roop and witnesses said. Avila died after doctors removed the baby, Roop said.
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