Public’s Help Sought in Finding Baby’s Killers

The family of Sabrina Haley, an 18-month-old girl slain by gunfire apparently aimed at her father, appealed Thursday for help from the public in identifying and apprehending the men who committed what one veteran policeman called “a senseless act of violence.”

“All this gang violence needs to stop,” said Angelina Lindsay, the girl’s cousin, choking back tears. “I want to see justice done.”

The child was fatally wounded Wednesday morning by shots from a car as she sat beside her father, Michael Haley, in another car stopped at a traffic light at 48th Street and Avalon Boulevard, police said.

Haley, 19, known to have associated with gang members, apparently was the intended target, said Detective Carl Sims of the Los Angeles Police Department. The father was not injured.

But Sims said he is not ruling out the possibility that the assailants realized that the girl was in the line of fire and decided to shoot anyway.

“I’ve been doing gang investigations for years, and this is one of the hardest,” he said. “This was a senseless act of violence.”

Sims, Lindsay, City Councilwoman Rita Walters and the slain child’s aunt, Sabrina Austin, participated in the news conference in front of the Police Department’s Newton Street station.

“I’m just here to ask for anybody’s help,” Austin said. “This was an innocent child. She didn’t deserve to die.”

Sims said the assailants, described as two young men driving a dark brown 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with black fender panels on the right side, had been following Haley’s car for several blocks.

When Haley pulled to a stop in the right lane, the Chevrolet pulled alongside in the left lane, Sims said. Several shots were fired through Michael Haley’s open window, one of which struck the girl in the head, and the two young men sped away, Sims said.

The girl died several hours later at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Her family said the child’s mother, Pamela Haley, was too distraught to attend the news conference. Michael Haley also chose not to attend, but he has been cooperative in the investigation, Sims said. He said the father is not able to identify the suspects. Sims asked anyone with information about the incident to call police at (213) 485-5277.