Half Brother Arrested in Youth’s Slaying

The half brother of a 17-year-old youth shot to death as he tried to shield two teen-age girls from gunfire at a party was arrested Monday for the killing, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

Acting on anonymous tips, deputies arrested Eric Gunn, 21, at a 15th Street East apartment he shared with Rayshaun Love, the high school senior who died early Sunday of a single gunshot wound at a Lancaster garage where the pay-to-enter party was held, said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Benita Hinojos.

Deputies said Gunn opened fire on party-goers after someone spilled beer on his shoe. Hinojos said Gunn had a small amount of rock cocaine in his possession when he was arrested at the apartment at about 6:15 p.m. Deputies said they are still searching for a second gunman.

Authorities said a number of party-goers who left the shooting scene before deputies arrived later called and identified Gunn as the gunman. They said he fired a pistol four times.

Love, a former high school basketball player who hoped to attend Cal State Northridge next fall, was killed by a single gunshot in the upper torso. Deputies described Love as a hero for his efforts to protect the two girls, 14 and 17. Two other party-goers were wounded in the incident.

Investigators said Gunn did not realize he had shot his half brother. Gunn was booked on suspicion of murder at the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station and is scheduled for arraignment on murder and drug possession charges Wednesday.

Love’s mother, Martha Jordan, who shared the same apartment with Gunn and Love, declined to speak with reporters about Gunn’s arrest late Monday. “My head is just all confused,” she said. “I can’t talk.”

But earlier in the day, Jordan said Gunn and a sister had attended the party with Love.

Gunn was at the apartment Monday with his mother and other relatives as friends and reporters streamed in and out.

Earlier Monday, one of the teen-age girls Love protected arrived at the apartment to tell Jordan what happened the night her son was slain.

Weeping at times, LaTonya McMillan, 14, said after the first shot was fired, she heard Love gasp, “Oh, God!” She didn’t realize that he’d been shot, she said, until she saw blood on her clothes.

LaTonya, who said she had become friends with Love in the last couple of months, was sitting with a 17-year-old girl against the wall of the garage at the home where the party was held. LaTonya said she and the other girl had been talking to Love just before the gunman opened fire before 1 a.m. Sunday.

As chaos erupted among the 100 people partying in the garage, Love threw himself on top of LaTonya and pulled the other girl down.

LaTonya, of Lancaster, said she began to say a prayer and that Love told her, “It’s OK, go ahead and pray.” Moments later, she heard him cry, “Oh, God!”

It was not until the shooting stopped and she saw the blood on her clothing that she realized Love had been hit.

Jordan said she was glad to hear LaTonya’s account of her son’s actions.

Love’s mother she said felt her son’s death was an act of God. He had gone to the party with Gunn and a sister but stayed when they decided to go home, Jordan said.

He stayed behind, she believes, because he was destined to save the lives of the two girls.

“I’m very proud of him,” she said in an interview, as tears occasionally streamed down her face. “I’m glad he didn’t get killed in a drive-by. I’m happy with the way he died.”

She added, “He always used to say, ‘One day you’re going to see me on TV and you’re going to be real proud of me.’ ”

Love’s aunt, Diann Wright, described her nephew as a good person who was always doing things for his family.

“He was a sweet kid, that’s what makes it hurt so bad. He had dreams, he had goals.”

Jordan, Wright and other members of the family had moved to the Antelope Valley to escape the violence of Los Angeles, Wright said.

“When we first came to Lancaster it was the place of dreams,” she said. “There was no fear.”

But now, she said, violence is prevalent in the area.

“We all have to do something, because you can’t go anywhere,” Wright said. “It we don’t all get together and do something we’re going to lose a whole generation.”

LaTonya McMillan said pay-to-enter parties are common in the area and she has attended many without fear of violence.

But after her friend’s death, she vowed never to attend another.

Jordan said her son also often attended parties, mostly because there are so few social activities for teen-agers in the Antelope Valley.

She said she once asked him if he was afraid to go to the pay parties. He replied that he was not, because he prayed before he went.

“The innocent always pay,” she said.