Fatal Shooting of 3 Women Leaves Friends Baffled

One friend remembered Monday how Charlene Flemons would pass out fliers in Watts’ Nickerson Gardens housing project, encouraging unwed mothers to get involved in community activities.

“Charlene could walk into Nickerson Gardens and just light up the place,” said resident Earl Jackson. “When you saw her coming, it just made you happy.”

Jackson and others who knew the young woman found themselves wrestling with their anguish and unanswered questions Monday.

“Who would want to kill her?” Jackson asked. “Who could kill her? She was beautiful.”

Flemons, 23, her sister Ruth Neal, 20, and family friend Lakeisha Jackson, 19, were shot to death execution-style Saturday night in the apartment they shared in the 1300 block of South Orange Drive, said Los Angeles Police Det. Ronald Reiser.

He said it is too early for detectives to have determined a motive. On Monday, a team of Robbery-Homicide Division detectives took over the investigation of the slayings in a quiet, Mid-City neighborhood.

The sisters’ mother, Vicki Sterling, discovered the bodies Sunday afternoon when she went to the apartment to return Flemons’ 6-year-old daughter, Brenae. The women had been shot in the head at close range.

Friends said the child saw the bloody victims and is in a state of shock. Sterling and the girl ran from the apartment screaming, neighbors said.

“I can’t even imagine that for that poor, little, sweet girl,” said Bo Taylor, a community activist who is Brenae’s godfather and a friend of the three victims. “Charlene was always there for people. She really cared. I just talked to her and Brenae Friday. They sounded so happy.”

Flemons grew up in a rough neighborhood near 41st Street and Central Avenue, and graduated from Jefferson High School in 1992. A single mother who became pregnant as a teenager, she had devoted much of her time recently to encouraging other single mothers to continue their educations as an important step in their search for meaningful work.

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Flemons’ search for her own fulfilling job was scheduled to move into high gear in two months when she would have graduated from a downtown nursing school.

“Charlene was always there when somebody needed her,” said her friend and mentor Tina Eddy, who runs a small child-care center in South-Central Los Angeles. Eddy, 33, introduced Flemons to the Independent Business Women’s Coalition in which she was active. “Whenever there was a car wash or a bake sale to raise money for someone in need, she was there,” Eddy said. “Now her own daughter is in need.”

It was in the city’s roughest neighborhoods that Flemons thought she could make the biggest impact, friends said. In Watts, in the Nickerson Gardens and Jordan Downs housing projects, it was not a rare sight to see Flemons approach a teenage girl carrying a baby, trying to talk her into returning to school.

“That was her thing,” Jackson said. “I used to see her there all the time. She was making it and wanted to see others make it too. Everything she did was positive. She was big time into her kid and studying to become a nurse.”

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Although Flemons was more of a student, friends said the other victims liked to go to nightspots, particularly those popular with motorcycle clubs.

“Ruthie would always be at those biker bars and clubs,” said a friend who asked not to be identified. “But she was younger than Charlene, and she just wanted to go out and have some fun.” Recalling how Flemons had worked so hard to help young black women better their lives, Eddy called on people to help Flemons’ family.

“Black women as a whole, young and old, rich and poor, need to stand up and not let this be forgotten,” she said. “I know in my heart Charlene wouldn’t forget it if it was someone else. People can help out just by being like Charlene.”

She said Flemons had a gift for reassuring others.

“If someone was down and out or in trouble, Charlene would give them this smile . . . this smile so warm,” Eddy said. “And she would say, ‘You’re going to be all right.’ ”

At the day-care center, three boys ran, yelling and playing, oblivious to Eddy’s grief. Eddy stared at Flemons’ photo, unable to hold back her tears.

“Look at that face,” she said. “Look at that sweet face. I can’t understand that I won’t see that smile anymore . . . that face no more.”

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Times staff writer Vanessa Hua contributed to this story.