Man, 19, Held in Slaying
A San Fernando gang member was arrested on suspicion of killing a man he thought was flirting with his girlfriend, police said.
The body of Stephen John Clawson was found Nov. 24 in Lake View Terrace. Richard Keith Molina, 19, whose gang nickname is “Trouble,” was arrested about 6 p.m. Wednesday outside his girlfriend’s Van Nuys apartment, Los Angeles homicide Det. Ray Broker said.
Police said Molina and Clawson, 44, of Valley Village, were with friends at an Arleta home Nov. 23 when Clawson volunteered to go out for food.
Molina, angry at Clawson for allegedly flirting with his girlfriend, decided to accompany Clawson because they “needed to talk,” homicide Det. Frank Bishop said.
The pair drove in Clawson’s car to Terra Vista Way, a secluded residential street bordering Angeles National Forest, Bishop said.
Early the next morning, two men found Clawson’s body.
An autopsy showed he had died about four hours earlier of gunshot wounds. Molina is being held at Van Nuys jail in lieu of $2-million bail.
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