Gardena Girl Is Killed in Alleyway Shooting

A gunman who apparently was following a teen-age Gardena girl home from a night of dancing shot her to death in a Wilmington alley early Thursday morning when she refused to get in his truck.

Joyce Garrett, 15, died in an alley behind the 1500 block of North Avalon Boulevard of a single bullet wound in her chest, police said.

Garrett was dropping off a girlfriend shortly after 2 a.m. when the man approached the girls, ordered them into his truck and then shot Garrett when she refused to cooperate.

Garrett’s friend was not injured.