Two men and a woman have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in front of a Glendale apartment after the victim apparently insulted the woman, officials said Sunday.
Police believe the woman orchestrated the attack on the victim, identified as Phillip Niles Jr., 25, of Daytona Beach, who had just moved to Los Angeles.
Glendale police said Niles and his friends were out on Friday night when they returned to an apartment in the 1700 block of North Verdugo Road and were joined by two women they met that night.
Niles walked the two women outside just before 4 a.m. and he was confronted by two men who knew one of the the women.
The victim was then shot multiple times and stumbled a short distance before collapsing on the front lawn of a home in the 1600 block of The Midway Street, police said.
The men and women then drove away from the scene in the same vehicle.
Investigators spent hours searching for leads and going door-to-door in the neighborhood.
“They went from not knowing the victim, to a complete ‘whodunit’ case, to seriously putting some good work into it,” Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William told the Los Angeles Times.
The men, identified as Laquan Parker, 24, of Suisun City, Calif., and Brandon Perkins, 26, of Stockton, were found at a Comfort Inn in Monrovia and were arrested, police said. Dezerea Lyons, 18, of Napa, was also arrested at the hotel.
Detectives believe that Lyons was insulted by a comment made by Niles at some point during the night, though it is unclear what was said.
She then threatened the victim, saying “you don’t know what I’m capable of,” and called and texted Parker and Perkins, the LA Times reported.
When Niles walked the two women out, Parker and Perkins were allegedly waiting to confront the victim.
Investigators believe Lyons “orchestrated the violent attack on the victim,” and that the second woman had no involvement, police said.
The other woman apparently wanted to leave but Parker and Perkins held her against her will at the hotel until the following day, police said.
Lyons was booked on suspicion of murder, and Parker and Perkins were booked on suspicion of murder and false imprisonment. All three are being held on $2 million bail. Investigators are working to determine who pulled the trigger during the incident, according to the LA Times.
Detectives recovered two handguns believed to be the the murder weapons from the suspects, police said.