Woman, 82, Fatally Shot on Her Porch

An 82-year-old woman who had just returned to her South Los Angeles home after attending church was shot and killed by bullets that were probably meant for her grandson, authorities said Saturday.

Viola McClain was standing on her front porch in the 1300 block of East 111th Street about 8:40 p.m. Friday when two young men fired several rounds and then retreated into the nearby Nickerson Gardens housing projects, police said.

McClain’s grandson, 33-year-old Dumar Stokes, told police that the incident began while his grandmother was at church, when he spotted a fire at an abandoned building next door and confronted two boys who were walking out of the building.

When he asked the boys why they set the fire, one replied, “Because we can do anything we want to do,” Stokes told police.

One of the boys then drew a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband and loaded a round into the gun’s chamber, Stokes told police.

Stokes said he heard several shots after he had escaped to his home. He told police he grabbed his handgun and went outside, where he found his grandmother crumpled on the porch, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the throat.