EL SEGUNDO : Suspect Held in Attempted Murder of Trial Witness
El Segundo police arrested a suspect this week they believe tried to kill a witness in the slaying case of an El Segundo City Councilman’s daughter.
Police would not release detailed information about the attack but said the witness came to police after the Feb. 9 slaying of Tairree Lynn West, 25, and reported hearing plans to rob the woman’s apartment, said Police Sgt. Bill Fleming.
The witness was not a member of the West family, police said.
Four suspects in the slaying of West are being held without bail. They have been ordered to stand trial and are scheduled to be arraigned today in Torrance Superior Court on murder and attempted murder charges. They could face the death penalty if convicted in the slashing and strangulation death of West. The murder charge carries a special circumstance allegation that the killing was done during a burglary.
The suspects, Robert Brendon Foster and Linnette O’Neill Blocker, both 18; Marcus Terral Brewington, 19, and Erica Dawn Olson, 20, are also charged with the attempted murder of the dead woman’s 12-year-old daughter, Ashley. The child was stabbed in the neck and left for dead, but managed to dial 911.
Police believe robbery was one of the motives in the crime, and that West and Foster had been involved in a dispute.
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