Prosecutors Will Seek to Try Gang Member as Adult
Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek to have a 17-year-old gang member tried as an adult in the July 5 slaying of a cab driver.
The youth, who was not identified because of laws protecting under-age suspects, was charged with murder and robbery earlier this week in Inglewood Juvenile court. A hearing on the district attorney’s request to have him tried as an adult was set for Aug. 16.
The teen-ager, a member of a South Los Angeles street gang, is charged in the shooting death of Ume Onyeanusi, 37, a driver for L.A. City Taxi Co. in Gardena. Deputy Dist. Atty. Lori Ann Jones said the suspect had just robbed a house in the 8000 block of South Broadway and commandeered the victim’s cab to make his getaway. The cabbie was gunned down as he ran down the block trying to escape his attacker.
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