Girl, 15, Shot to Death Over Orange Juice
A 15-year-old girl was shot to death Saturday morning by the owner of a liquor store in South Los Angeles who said she struggled with the juvenile after she allegedly tried to steal a bottle of orange juice, authorities reported.
Police Detective Jeff Alvarado said authorities were considering seeking charges against the owner in the killing of the unidentified girl, who was shot at about 9:45 a.m. at Empire Liquor-Market at 9127 S. Figueroa St.
Details surrounding the incident were sketchy Saturday evening, but Alvarado said the girl and the owner of the store, who authorities declined to identify, got into a dispute over a bottle of orange juice that the girl allegedly had in her hand as she was leaving the store.
Alvarado said the woman pulled a pistol from under the store’s counter and confronted the girl, who gave back the orange juice.
A struggle apparently ensued but as the girl tried to walk away, the store owner shot the teen-ager in the back of the head, killing her, Alvarado said.
The owner later complained of a head injury suffered during the brief struggle with the girl, Alvarado said. The woman was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center for treatment but was not taken into custody.
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