8 Killed--Toll of Violence in Southland

Eight people died and a 10-year-old East Los Angeles girl was injured Saturday in a series of unconnected shootings and stabbings, authorities said.

The girl, Grace Kwan, was struck in the back shortly after unknown assailants sprayed her home with four bullets in an apparent drive-by shooting, authorities said. She was in stable condition at County-USC Medical Center Saturday night awaiting surgery to remove the bullet.

“I pray to God my daughter will make it,” said the girl’s mother, Genevieve Kwan.

In other incidents, six men and two women were killed--two by stabbing, four by shooting, one by bludgeoning and one by a still undetermined cause. One suspect was arrested.

The first victim was 20-year-old Art Brambila Jr. of Alhambra, who was stabbed in the chest as he stood in front of the Posada Motel on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. He died at Huntington Memorial Hospital shortly before 12:30 a.m.

Brambila had been stabbed during a robbery two hours earlier. The suspect fled with a small amount of cash, authorities said.

An hour after Brambila died, Albert Domingo Simenia, a 36-year-old Bassett resident, was killed at his house in front of 40 party-goers across the street.

Witnesses said Simenia, a reputed gang member, had been arguing with a group of gang members and was stabbed to death at 1:45 a.m., Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Olmsted said. Investigators were searching for eight suspects who ran from the scene, Olmsted said.

A short period later, sheriff’s deputies found the body of an unidentified woman in an alley off East 88th Street.

Meanwhile, a shoot-out erupted at the Lopez Bar on Brooklyn Avenue in Boyle Heights. Two men attempted to enter the bar after closing. One of the assailants opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon after the owner refused to let them in, police said.

The bartender fired back, police said. As “well over” 12 rounds were exchanged, Rigoberto Medina, 31, standing on the street about 150 feet away, was killed.

The body of an unidentified man who had been shot several times was discovered at 2:35 a.m. in the 1300 block of South Hoover Street.

An hour later, an unidentified woman was found bludgeoned to death in an alley near the 11800 block of Crenshaw Boulevard.

Saturday evening, William Escamilla, 41, was fatally shot in the yard of his South Arizona Avenue home, and an unidentified man was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting in Willowbrook.