Murder Suspect May Have Returned to Area

Donald Lewis Brooks Jr., a San Fernando Valley plumber who has been charged with murder, and who has not seen since late March, may have been in Van Nuys on Monday, according to police.

Brooks, 33, is charged with the murder of Lisa Kerr, a Van Nuys woman whom he had dated after the two met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting a year ago.

Police say that Brooks abused Kerr during their relationship and then stalked her after she called it off. They believe that he left the 32-year-old woman’s body in the back seat of her burning car near the Roscoe Boulevard exit of the Hollywood Freeway about 4 a.m. March 24.

Police have been unable to find or talk to Brooks since the incident. He was charged with her murder last Friday.

On Monday police discovered that Brooks’ 1979 white Dodge van, which had been parked near his Van Nuys plumbing business since Kerr’s death, was gone. Brooks has the only set of keys for the van, said Det. Rick Gonzalez of the LAPD Foothill Division. Gonzales said police also discovered that a second car belonging to Brooks, a red Ford Mustang, was moved about two feet from where they had last seen it parked. They believe that Brooks moved both cars.

Brooks is described by police as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He has brown hair and eyes, a lightning bolt tattoo on his right forearm, wears clear plastic braces on his teeth and has a small scar on the base of his neck.

Anyone with information on Brooks’ whereabouts or the incident is asked to call (818) 834-3115.