A 70-year-old grandmother who was shot in Inglewood on Christmas Day has died, as investigators continue to search for the shooter.
Authorities have released a description of the suspect's vehicle and allege that the suspect stole the victim's purse before taking off with a getaway driver.
The victim, Lourdes Padilla, was a longtime Inglewood resident.
Detectives describe the suspect's vehicle as a black car with tinted windows.
The shooting occurred near Yukon Avenue and 104th Street, and a nearby security camera caught a black sedan with paper plates believed to be the getaway car.
The victim's family called police after the grandmother went to the store on Christmas Day and never returned, according to police. A woman in her 30s is believed to have exchanged words and tussled over the victim's purse before witnesses heard a single gunshot.
"They thought it was just a conversation," Lt. Neal Cochran of the Inglewood Police Department says. "They look away for a second, then, they hear a pop which was a gunshot. They look over. They see our victim on the ground, and they see the suspect taking her purse."
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Police and the family are asking for the public's help in finding the shooter and the getaway driver, a man also in his 30s.
"To shoot her, for who knows what's even in the purse? I don't see how that could ever be worth shooting someone for," Cochran said.
The yellow paper plates and the grainy photos of the black sedan provide limited evidence to track down the suspects, but the family is hopeful that the people responsible will be caught and brought to justice.
Investigators believe the car is a black, 4-door 2019 Toyota Yaris or Scion IA with yellow paper plates saying either "Keyes" or "Longo" -- dealerships with similar paper plates.
Anyone with information about the suspects is encouraged to contact police at 310-412-5206 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8277 or lacrimestoppers.org.
The family has also set up a GoFundMe account to help during the trying time. If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, you may do so here. Please note that GoFundMe takes a percentage of donations.
