One of three suspects sought in the death of a 31-year-old woman who was run over and killed while chasing after attempted robbery suspects is in custody, officials said Thursday.
The suspect, Jajuan Termell Welch-Arroyo, turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood Wednesday, and is being held on no bail, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
He’s believed to be one of three men who were in the getaway car that struck Samantha Mena as she followed them outside a residential complex on the 44000 block of 15th Street West last week.
Officials didn’t provide further details on Welch-Arroyo’s suspected role in the killing.
Mena had followed the suspects to their car after they pistol-whipped her boyfriend, who was knocked unconscious, officials told KTLA.
She was run over while chasing after them, and responding deputies found her badly injured and lying in the street. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“She wasn’t scared to go down there and confront these individuals,” her mother Celia Mena said. “She went to protect her boyfriend. She gave her life for him.”
Her family described Mena as a loving person who was going to school while working two jobs.
“She was doing something for her life, so what hurts me is that these individuals, that were not doing nothing for their lives, took her life,” her mother said.
Investigators on Monday released surveillance images of three suspects in her death.
They were all described as being Black men between 20 to 30 years old who are believed to have fled the scene in a silver, four-door sedan.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Those who prefer to provide information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.