The shooting deaths of three women in a January attack in Beverly Crest and of a man in North Hollywood in December were all perpetrated by gang members from Chicago, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a press conference Friday.
The Beverly Crest victims, Iyana Hutton, 33, from Chicago, Nenah Davis, 29, from Bolingbrook, Illinois, and Destiny Sims, 26, from Buckeye, Arizona, were killed while sitting in a car in the 2700 block of Ellison Drive on Jan. 28.
Six other people were wounded, though their identities are not being released to protect their safety, the LAPD said.
On Dec. 16 in North Hollywood, Julian Bynum, 30 and also of Chicago, was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in the 6800 block of Simpson Avenue.
While the victims were unrelated outside of their shared connections to the Chicago area, they were all killed by the same group of men, according to LAPD Capt. Jonathan Tippet.
Three of the alleged shooters, Daries Stanford, 28, Dejean Thompkins, 28, and Dontae Williams, 23, have been arrested. Thompkins has been accused of being the triggerman in the North Hollywood attack.
All are from the Chicago area, but Stanford was captured in New York City, Thompkins in Chicago and Williams in Gary, Indiana, before he was returned to Chicago, Tippet said.
“I think one thing that can be said is that the violence that occurs in Chicago today is having an effect on all of us, and we’ve become aware that it’s been affecting other states as well,” Tippet added.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s Chief of Staff Joseph Iniguez said the three men face gun enhancements and special circumstance allegations in addition to multiple murder, attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm charges.
“We cannot allow these tragedies to go unanswered or [be forgotten]. We must continue to work together to prevent these heinous acts from occurring and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” he said.
The news of the arrests comes after police last month served a search warrant in Beverly Hills.
The suspected shooters were believed to be driving a blue four-door Tesla with damage to the right fender and no license plates, which was reportedly spotted in Beverly Hills.
Police served a search warrant at an apartment building in the 8600 block of Wilshire Boulevard, which was vacant at the time of the search, though investigators searched the unit for any evidence left behind.