Reward to Be Sought in Woman’s Slaying by Fire

County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is to ask the Board of Supervisors today to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for last week’s killing of an unidentified woman near Whittier.

“There was an African American woman burned alive,” said John Hill, Burke’s chief of staff. “That’s what got everybody shook up--how gruesome it is. We want to find out what really happened.”

The victim’s charred body was discovered Friday after firefighters extinguished a blaze outside a machine shop in an unincorporated area south of Whittier. A witness reported hearing a cry for help about 4 a.m., sheriff’s officials said.

Investigators still have not been able to identify the woman. They at first believed she was about 14. But after an autopsy, Sgt. Craig Melvin said the victim could be as old as her early 30s because, among other things, the coroner found an extensive amount of dental work.

Melvin said detectives will use an anthropologist to help determine the approximate age of the woman based on her bones. A composite drawing of the woman’s face may be available as early as Wednesday.

Autopsy results confirmed that the victim, about 5-foot-2 and 130 pounds, inhaled soot and so was not dead before being burned, Melvin said.

“I think that helps keep people enraged,” Melvin said. “It’s more horrific.”

Community activists will hold a candlelight vigil tonight at 8 at the murder site outside a business at 10706 Inez Ave.

“We’re hoping someone who knows who the killer is will make a phone call and turn the person in,” said vigil organizer Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic HOPE.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500.