Ex-Boyfriend’s Brother Held in Slaying of Girl Who Testified Against Sibling

Authorities seeking the killer of former Ventura resident Melinda “Mindy” Carmody, 16, have arrested her ex-boyfriend’s teenage brother, hinting that the slaying was retaliation for her testimony against the former boyfriend in court.

“She testified against the guy’s brother on the stand,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Taklender. “You draw your own conclusions.”

The 17-year-old suspect, who was not identified, was arrested on murder charges Tuesday morning in the Northridge neighborhood where Carmody was shot, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Vance Proctor.

Carmody’s former boyfriend, Juan Manuel Lopez Hernandez, 23, is in jail on charges of assault, kidnapping and burglary, for allegedly beating her and abducting her from her Panorama City apartment.

She testified against him at a preliminary hearing last week, tearfully saying that she was putting her life in danger by doing so. But Carmody did not ask for protection. “He said if he can’t have me, no one can,” she testified.

After she was shot, her family alleged that the killing was connected to the testimony she gave.

“There is a connection between the two,” Proctor said Wednesday, but declined to speculate on who made the decision to kill her. “Right now we are still investigating. There are a lot of different witnesses to interview for this case.”

Despite her death, the record of her testimony can still be used against Lopez at his trial, Taklender said.

Carmody left her home Friday night to go to a party with friends. Her body was found later that night in the street in front of an apartment house by neighbors who said they heard five or six shots and the sound of people running.

Neighborhood resident Mary Lou Holte said she met Carmody about two years ago and often talked to her, trying to steer her away from gang companions.

“She just couldn’t get away from what she had gotten herself into,” Holte said. “Here is a girl who was grabbing for a family in a gang, just a little girl that was lost and nobody was paying attention. I just wish the judge would have realized that.”

David Myers, the principal at De Anza Middle School in Ventura, where Carmody spent her eighth-grade year in 1993 and 1994, described her as “really well-liked and a gifted athlete.”

“She seemed to have an awful lot of friends,” he said.

Physical education teacher Gerald Ornelas remembered Carmody for her athletic accomplishments.

“She was very gifted,” said Ornelas, who coached the girl in 1994. “She loved track and field. That was her specialty.”

Despite her athletic abilities, Carmody preferred individual sports to team activities, Ornelas said. In addition to track and field, she liked to sprint and practice the long jump.

“She was a very good long jumper,” the coach remembered. “Once she jumped 14 feet. For an eighth-grade girl, that’s pretty far.”

Carmody’s family will hold a memorial service that friends are invited to attend on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.

Times correspondent Jeff McDonald contributed to this story.