Killers Sought in Pair of Shootings That Took 4 Lives

Two double slayings, both before witnesses, on the street and in daylight, have left four people dead in as many days in an area near Watts.

The shootings both occurred in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southeast Division, where yet another shooting Wednesday night left three men and a woman wounded, one critically.

In the first fatal shooting at 2:40 p.m. Friday near West 104th and Figueroa streets, Albert Martin, 37, was riding an electric scooter on the sidewalk when two people approached him on foot and fired multiple rounds, killing him, said LAPD homicide Det. Roger Allen.

Some of the rounds also hit and killed Lance Edward, 46, who was passing by with a male friend, police said. The friend was struck in the foot.

Police don’t know the motive for the shooting and don’t think the killers knew the victims, Allen said.

The second shooting happened at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the vicinity of East 88th and Wall streets.

James Demetrius Coleman, 27, and Marcus Tonodeo, 22, were driving in a car when two people carrying high-powered weapons drove up in a small, white, four-door car, got out and shot them, killing both, Allen said.

Stray gunfire hit a 2-year-old boy playing in the frontyard of a home. He was struck in the buttocks, treated at a local hospital and released, Allen said.

On Wednesday, four people were shot in an apparent drug deal gone bad, police said.

All were expected to survive, LAPD Lt. Don Schwartzer said. No one has been arrested in that shooting.

Police are seeking information, including anonymous tips. Call (213) 485-6902.