Suspect Apparently Knew Slain Oceanside Girl, Friend Says

A man has been booked into County Jail in Vista on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl and the wounding of another teen-ager, Oceanside police said Thursday.

Akeli Kelly of Oceanside apparently knew the victim of the possibly gang-related drive-by shooting, having once lived with Michele Tate, her mother and other relatives, a close family friend said Thursday.

Kelly, 21, surrendered to police early Wednesday. He is being held without bail.

Meanwhile, police continued investigating the death of Tate, a freshman at El Camino High School who was gunned down as she and three acquaintences left Alberto’s Mexican Food in eastern Oceanside shortly after 9 p.m. Monday. The bullet that killed Tate also wounded a pregnant 17-year-old companion.

Police are trying to determine whether the incident was related to gang activity prevalent in the neighborhood. Senior Officer Bob George said Thursday that investigators have not yet concluded that gang members were involved, and are reinterviewing people who might have information about the crime.

Two rival groups, the Samoan Bloods and the Deep Valley Posse, have been involved in non-fatal drive-by shootings in the area, according to authorities. Michele Tate was black, as is the wounded companion, while Kelly and another suspect who has been released from custody are Samoan.

A close friend of the Tate family, who asked not to be identified, said Thursday that Kelly had a relationship with Michele Tate’s cousin. Both lived for a time at the Tate home in a modest neighborhood near Camp Pendleton’s rear gate, the friend said.

Tate’s mother, Mecaela, had been kind to Kelly while he lived with the family, the friend said.

“She had fed him and given him money, that’s why it (the shooting) hurt so bad,” the friend said.