Police Identify Suspect Who Allegedly Threw Dead Woman From Car

A 28-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a woman and pushing her from the car he was driving as he led sheriff's deputies on a chase was arrested early Friday morning after barricading himself inside an apartment complex in Hawthorne, authorities said.

The suspect was identified as Juan Diego Valencia, and remains in custody at this hour.

A deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) Century Station tried to pull the suspect's car over because of an unspecified violation around 11:15 p.m. Thursday in the 4100 block of Alma Avenue in Lynwood, said Lt. Holly Francisco of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

The vehicle stopped at the curb and the deputy saw a flash inside the
car, which then sped off, Francisco said. At the corner of Josephine Street and Harris Avenue in Lynwood, the suspect pushed the woman out of the car, she said.

The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso and was pronounced dead at the scene, said Deputy Peter Gomez of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

One deputy stopped to tend to the woman, whose identity was not
immediately released, while others chased the suspect onto the westbound Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway, Francisco said.

The suspect exited the freeway and fled into the apartment complex in
the 14000 block of Chadron Avenue in Hawthorne, she said, adding that deputies surrounded the complex and a SWAT team was called in.

Around 1:50 a.m., after announcements were made urging the man to
surrender, he walked out of the apartment complex, and was taken into custody, Francisco said. A weapon was recovered at the scene, Gomez said.

From City News Service

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