Teen pleads not guilty in baby’s shooting death
Donald Ray Dokins will be prosecuted as an adult
COMPTON, Calif.—A 15-year-old boy being prosecuted as an adult in connection with a June 4 gang shooting that killed a 14-month-old boy and wounded the toddler’s father in Watts pleaded not guilty today to murder and attempted murder charges.
Donald Ray Dokins was arraigned in Compton Superior Court on charges stemming from the death of Angel Cortez and the wounding of the boy’s father, Mauro, who was shot in the shoulder.
He was held to answer to the charges on July 16 and is due back in court Nov. 28 for a pretrial hearing.
The criminal complaint includes the allegations that the shooting was “committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang” and that Dokins intentionally discharged a handgun.
The baby was in the arms of his father—who had no gang affiliation and was standing with a number of other people—when the shooting occurred on Hickory Street near 105th Street about 7:50 p.m., according to police.
Doctors were unable to save the toddler, who underwent surgery and was declared dead at 10:20 p.m.
The next day, Mauro Cortez went before television news crews and reporters to ask for the public’s help in finding the shooter, who rode up on a bicycle and fired numerous shots before riding away.
The Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles Kings each offered $50,000 rewards for information leading to the assailant’s arrest and conviction.
Dokins, who was arrested June 27 by Los Angeles police, faces a potential life sentence if convicted, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
COMPTON, Calif. — A teenager was convicted today of murder and attempted murder for fatally shooting a 14-month-old boy and wounding the toddler’s father.
The Compton Superior Court jury deliberated about 1 1/2 hours before finding 16-year-old Donald Ray Dokins guilty of first-degree murder for the June 4, 2012, shooting death of Angel Cortez, along with the attempted murder of his father, who was shot in the shoulder, said Deputy District Attorney Danette Gomez.
COMPTON, Calif.—A 15-year-old boy who has been charged as an adult was scheduled to be arraigned today on a murder charge stemming from a shooting that killed a 14-month-old boy and wounded his father in Watts earlier this month.
Donald Ray Dokins is scheduled to appear in Compton Superior Court this morning to enter a plea to one count of murder stemming from death of Angel Cortez on June 4 and one count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting the boy's father, Mauro, in the shoulder.
COMPTON, Calif.—A man who was shot to death in a Compton neighborhood was identified by the Los Angeles County’s coroner office today as Wendell Lashawn Prince, 50, of Long Beach.
The shooting was reported at 1:31 a.m. Monday in the 1350 block of East Schinner Street near Compton Community College, said Deputy Irys Alvarez of the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Alvarez said. No suspect information was released.
COMPTON, Calif.—Authorities today identified a man who was killed in a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting in Compton.
The attack occurred about 6:45 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of East Florence Avenue. Ray Henderson, 30, of Los Angeles died at a hospital, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
Henderson was driving on Florence Avenue when he was shot by someone in a vehicle that pulled up next to him, said Deputy Mark Pope of the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.
COMPTON, Calif. — Former Compton Fire Department Deputy Chief Marcel Melanson is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on grand theft and arson charges related to a fire at the department’s headquarters.
Melanson is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of Motorola radios, selling them online and intentionally setting the Dec. 11, 2011 fire to destroy evidence of the thefts, Steve Whitmore of the sheriff’s department said.
