Police Get Few Tips in Fatal Jordan Downs Blaze

Los Angeles police detectives said Wednesday they are disappointed that they have received only a handful of tips that could help them solve last weekend’s deadly arson blaze at the Jordan Downs housing project.

Given the heinous nature of the crime--five people, including three children, died--officers said they expected residents of the Watts development to deluge them with information.

“People 99% of the time are more than willing to talk to you,” said Lt. Helen Kidder, of the Police Department’s criminal conspiracy section. “But we’ve had less than 10 . . . no, less than five phone calls so far. You would think, based on the circumstances, we would get a lot more.”

Despite the paucity of tips, detectives said they have made progress in their investigation and are confident they will soon arrest the two or three arsonists responsible. They said informants had supplied the street names of several possible suspects, identified as members of a local gang.

Detectives, however, said they did not yet know the real names of the suspects or where they live. They also said the suspects might be aware that they have been identified and could be in hiding.

“They’re like cockroaches,” said Lt. Rich Molony of South Bureau homicide. “When the light goes off, they’ll eventually work their way back out again.”

To encourage more people to step forward, the City Council on Wednesday approved an emergency resolution authorizing a $25,000 reward for information. Unlike most such rewards, which are paid out only if a tip leads to conviction of a suspect, the council offered the money to anyone who could help police simply identify and arrest someone.

Molony--whose South Bureau covers 57 square miles from San Pedro to the Santa Monica Freeway and from Watts to Windsor Hills--said he often finds that residents of affluent areas are more willing than the disadvantaged to come forward with information.

At a place such as Jordan Downs--where the victims of Saturday’s predawn blaze had complained of violence and drug dealing--residents have to face the reality of living in close quarters with those whom they implicate.

“Around the harbor, they come forward in droves, they’re so incensed,” Molony said. “But the deeper we get into the poorer, rougher parts of the city, the harder it is for us to solicit information. They’re definitely afraid to even be seen talking to the police.”

Although the fear of a pay-back is real at the 691-unit complex, officers said, there is money available to relocate witnesses and, if necessary, supply them with new identities. They are also considering establishing an “anonymous, drop-a-dime murder hot line,” said Molony, whose South Bureau detectives have investigated 265 homicides this year.

Emory Cenance, president of the Jordan Downs Residents Council, said word of the crime had circulated throughout the 50-acre development, but speculated that some of her neighbors might not be calling in tips because they had heard little more than rumor.

“When you live in a place like this, you hear all kinds of word,” said Cenance, who held a news conference Wednesday morning urging residents to unite. “It’s always anything but the truth.”

The blaze that ripped through the three-bedroom apartment on 102nd Street inflamed racial tensions at the predominantly black project. It claimed the lives of Mexican immigrants Margarita Hernandez, 78; her granddaughter, Martha Zuniga, 22; and Zuniga’s children, Juan, 5, Claudia, 4, and Veronica, 1.

In the confusion of the moment, the family’s patriarch, 65-year-old Juan Zuniga--who suffered smoke inhalation--accidentally fired a shot into the chest of Gregory Moore, 34, a neighbor who was trying to offer help. Zuniga was in guarded but stable condition Wednesday, while Moore was in fair condition.

“I think there are a lot of people who know by this time what happened and have some idea as to who is involved in it,” Kidder said. “Hopefully, the reward will assist us. It’s a shame that’s what it takes.”