A man who is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend and her daughter in a drive-by shooting in Compton is on the run, and believed to be armed and dangerous, authorities said.
The Los Angles County Sheriff’s Department is looking for Donte Lamont Brown, a 41-year-old resident of Compton, who is suspected of slaying his estranged girlfriend La’von Hall and her 22-year-old daughter, Ma’Laysia Martin, according to a department news release.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the intersection of Caldwell Street and South Central Avenue around 7 p.m. Tuesday and found Hall, 45, lying on the ground nearby suffering from gunshot wounds. Her daughter was discovered in the passenger seat of a car crashed nearby, also bleeding from gunshot wounds, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies and Compton Fire Department personnel attempted to render lifesaving aid, but both victims were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators later learned that Brown drove up to the victims’ car while it was stopped at a light on Caldwell Street and unleashed numerous rounds of gunfire, hitting both the mother and daughter, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Hall exited the driver’s side of the car and fell onto the ground, mortally wounded. The car then continued moving forward with Martin, wounded, in the passenger seat. It collided with a signal pole on the southeast corner of the intersection, where the 22-year-old was found unresponsive, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Brown fled the scene southbound on South Central Avenue and his whereabouts remain unknown, sheriff’s officials said.
The department said that detectives have exhausted all leads in the search for Brown and are seeking the public’s assistance in locating him. He is known to frequent the Compton and Long Beach areas and is believed to be armed.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477 or at the Crime Stoppers website.
