Boy, 15, Held in Slaying of Mother

A 15-year-old Sun Valley boy, suspected of shooting his mother in the chest and leaving her dead in their kitchen, was arrested in southwest Washington state after he went to police there to report an alleged robbery, authorities said Wednesday.

The boy is suspected of killing his mother, identified by Los Angeles County coroner’s officials as Lois Marie O’Donnell, 51, in their Sun Valley home last Friday, then fleeing in her car on Saturday. He apparently took her automated teller machine card for cash.

The teenager, whose name was not released by Los Angeles police, remains in custody in Kelso, Wash. Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood station interviewed the boy Wednesday in Kelso and were anticipating bringing back the teen today.

The teenager was staying at a Kelso motel when he went to police there to report an apparent robbery, including the theft of his mother’s car, said Mel Jewell, the court administrator for the Cowlitz County Juvenile Court. He went to police both to report the crimes and to seek assistance, Jewell said.

“He didn’t have any money and he was looking for a place to stay,” Jewell said. “He was referred to our department of social services . . . while he was over there arranging for a temporary place to stay, the Police Department found out that there was a warrant for his arrest.”

The boy told Kelso authorities that his mother had died several months ago and that he had no money, Jewell said. He also gave police a false name and said that he was en route to another city in central Washington.

Kelso authorities notified Los Angeles police, who traveled to the city about 100 miles south of Seattle on Wednesday.

Homicide detectives learned of O’Donnell’s death a day earlier, around noon. O’Donnell’s older brother, who lives across the street in the 11300 block of Covello Street, went to check on his sister because he hadn’t heard from her. Neighbors saw him break down in tears as his wife called police.

Officers have not yet found the gun or the car, a light blue 1989 Hyundai with the license plate number 2MZC179, said North Hollywood Homicide Det. Mike Coffey.

Police have yet to learn the motive for the shooting, but said the divorced mother and her son apparently had a troubled history. It was unclear where the boy got the handgun, but police said he was known to have one.

It also remained unclear why the boy went to Washington; he had no relatives or connections there, Coffey said.

But Coffey said investigators have physical evidence linking the boy to the crime and that charges probably will be filed today. In a similar case, a 14-year-old Glendale boy is awaiting trial on charges that he shot his mother to death in August as she sat at their dinner table.

O’Donnell worked for a Burbank aerospace firm for the past 25 years and drove her son to and from an independent study program in Van Nuys where he was enrolled, neighbors said. O’Donnell was born and raised in the neighborhood, having gained ownership of the house two years ago when her mother died, neighbors said. Theylived there with their dog, who could be seen moping about the trash-strewn backyard Wednesday.

While most neighbors in the quiet area near Tujunga Avenue and Saticoy Street had heard about the slaying, few knew many details about the mother and son who kept to themselves.

“He rarely came outside,” said a neighbor, 18-year-old Luis Villaneda. “The only time I really saw him was when he was playing with his remote control car.”

Villaneda, who had grown up with the boy, said the teenager had always been a loner. They had once been good friends but that friendship cooled a few years ago after a falling out. He said the teenager picked up his home study assignments and then dropped them back off at school.

O’Donnell was raising the boy alone after divorcing her second husband, according to one neighbor. Though she worked frequently, she tried to spend a lot of her free time at home, either tending to her garden or taking care of her son.

“She took him everywhere he needed to go,” said one neighbor who declined to be identified by name but said she knew the woman well. “She was so good to him. He was her only son. I think she would have given her life for him.”