Woman Sought in South L.A. Killing

An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for a young woman believed to have been involved in the death of a 57-year-old woman in South Los Angeles who was felled by a stray bullet, authorities said.

Kanika Mitchell, 19, and three alleged gang members are suspects in the killing of Betty Jean Rothchild the evening of Feb. 5, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Patrick Tapia. The three men have been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting, which also critically wounded Jermaine Booth, 26.

Rothchild was getting into her van in the 1300 block of East 99th Street when gunfire erupted 500 feet away.

Authorities say Elridge Lee Titus, 18; Anthony Carnell Jr., 22; Larry Kajuan Harris, 22, and Mitchell were driving near 99th Street and Success Avenue when they spotted gang rivals whom they blamed for a shooting of a friend weeks earlier.

Harris and Carnell got out of the car and began firing at a group of people on the sidewalk, including Booth, Tapia said. One of the bullets struck Rothchild, a retired nurse with three sons and 13 grandchildren. She died at Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center.

The killing rattled congregants at Heavenly Rest Missionary Baptist Church, where Rothchild had been an active member for 25 years.

She had used her computer to print church publications, she had repaired pews, and she had been the head cook for church events. Rothchild was going to buy groceries for a church fish fry when she was killed.

Investigators were helped by independent witnesses, Tapia said.

“The intended victims were very uncooperative with the investigation even though they witnessed the shooting. They refused to talk to us,” Tapia said. Instead, authorities heard rumors about a possible retaliation against the shooters.