At 2 Ends of City, Death by Stray Fire : Crime: A retired nurse and a maid were sitting in homes when gang gunfire erupted outside and killed them.

One victim was a retired nurse who had lived in South-Central Los Angeles most of her life. She had returned home from church, where she sang in the choir, and was talking with a friend.

The other was a recent immigrant from Guatemala who worked as a maid in Orange County. She was visiting relatives in the MacArthur Park area and was watching television.

Both women were sitting on living room sofas when bullets intended for others crashed through windows and killed them.

Both deaths were the result of gang members shooting at rival gang members and missing, police said. No suspects have been arrested.

Sara Roberson, 63, who lived in a well-tended white clapboard house in South-Central with her daughter and grandchildren, was shot about 9 p.m. Sunday.

Two hours later, Rosa Barrios, 35, who was visiting cousins at their small, cluttered apartment near MacArthur Park, was shot.

In the corner of the apartment where Barrios died, her relatives built a small shrine--cutting away a corner of the bloodstained carpeting, tacking up a picture of Barrios on the wall and placing a candle and a small crystal pitcher of holy water beneath it. At the other corner of the room, there are two shattered windows and one split screen from the gunfire.

Barrios, whose husband and three children live in Guatemala, moved to the United States three years ago to make enough money so her daughter, who is severely handicapped, could receive care, said her cousin Yolanda Rodriquez. Barrios planned to move back to Guatemala in a few months.

She led a lonely life here, living with a family in Laguna Niguel and working as a maid, Rodriquez said. She felt isolated in Orange County and whenever she had time off, she visited relatives in the MacArthur Park area, where she enjoyed the company of other Central Americans.

The family was watching television late Sunday when they heard gunshots and someone yell a gang slogan. A gunman in a car fired about 12 shots at a group of men gathered in front of the apartment building Barrios was visiting, said Detective Terry Wessel. Police suspect that the shooting was caused by a dispute over drug sales.

After the shots were fired, Barrios and the other family members began crawling to a back bedroom, Rodriquez said. When Barrios was about two feet from the hallway leading to the bedroom, she was struck in the head by a bullet. She died en route to the Hospital of the Good Samaritan.

“Some people move from Guatemala because it is dangerous . . . but it seems even more dangerous here,” Rodriquez said. “Rosa just wanted to earn enough money for her daughter.”

Rodriquez shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Now we’re just trying to raise the money to send her body back home.”

At the other end of the city, in a neighborhood also plagued by gang graffiti and drive-by shootings, family members were mourning another victim.

The front door of Sara Roberson’s house was dotted with bullet holes and the sidewalk across the street was covered with small chalk circles, marking the spots where shell casings and bullet fragments were recovered.

“(Sara) lived a quiet life with her daughter and her grandchildren,” said Louise Valley, who visited the family Monday. “Church, social club and family--that was her life. . . . Someone like her shouldn’t have to die like this.”

The incident began Sunday night when a teen-age boy, who police suspect was a gang member, was sitting in a car parked down the street from Roberson’s house, said Detective Larry Kallestad. Several gunmen began shooting at the boy and he jumped out of the car and began running down the street, Kallestad said. The assailants continued shooting at him and seven errant shots entered Roberson’s house.

Roberson stood up after she heard shots and was hit once in the chest. She died shortly after arriving at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

“We’re seeing more bystanders getting hit these days in gang-related shootings,” Kallestad said. “The six-shooter revolver has almost disappeared from the scene. Now they’re all using semiautomatics that can fire a lot more bullets a lot faster. These bullets penetrate windows, walls, doors. They can hit anybody.”