COMPTON : Man Pleads Not Guilty to Fatal Freeway Shooting

A man who allegedly took part in a freeway shooting that left a woman dead and her boyfriend in a coma pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and attempted murder charges in Municipal Court.

An April 19 preliminary hearing was set for Edward Charles Powell, 24, of Compton, who is accused in the March 17 killing of Air Force servicewoman Arkett Mejia.

The 19-year-old victim was shot as she rode in a car with her boyfriend and two other friends on the Century Freeway, authorities said.

A carload of gang members pulled alongside the victims’ car, made threatening gestures and then opened fire. Investigators speculate that the victims were shot when they did not respond to the gang slogans.

Mejia’s friends rushed her to a hospital, but she died.

Travon Johnson remains hospitalized in a coma at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood.

The investigator said Mejia had returned to the area to attend her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. She and her friends had been on an outing to Dockweiler State Beach.

Powell faces one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

Investigators asked for help today in identifying the four or five other people who were riding in the car with him.