Girlfriend of Panorama City Slaying Suspect Turns Self In

Police say they moved closer Tuesday to catching a man they suspect of killing a Panorama City man after they arrested the suspect’s girlfriend, who had been on the lam with her boyfriend for nearly a week.

Sheila Lewis, 20, gave herself up to Los Angeles police Monday after her parents persuaded her to turn herself in, Detective Stephen Fisk said. Lewis is charged with being an accessory to the murder of Benito Ozaeta, 23, who was shot on a Panorama City street Nov. 30.

Los Angeles Police Department officials believe Victor Fuller, 29, also of Panorama City, walked up to Ozaeta in front of an apartment building about 8:30 that night and fired at him several times.

Residents had said Ozaeta was a familiar figure in the neighborhood who ran errands for local gangs. Fisk said witnesses identified Fuller as the killer, and an arrest warrant for him was quickly served. Police also began looking for Lewis. “She went with him after the murder,” Fisk said.

Fuller also has been identified as the man who stabbed two men on the same block just hours before the shooting, LAPD Detective Oscar Lopez said. The men were treated for their injuries at a local hospital and released. Police say they don’t know what precisely motivated the stabbings or the shooting. “I’ve got different stories” explaining Fuller’s actions, Lopez said.

Detectives believe Fuller is still in the area. “He’s definitely armed,” Lopez said.