INSIDE INGLEWOOD-On Wednesday, December 24 at approximately 6:15 a.m., a burned body was found in an alley immediately west of South La Brea Avenue near 94th Street. It was the 20th homicide for the small charter city this year and murder no. 9 to take place in Inglewood’s District 3 for 2014.
An emergency call at approximately 6 a.m. regarding a car on fire in the alley prompted L.A. County Fire Department to respond.
Pending further investigation, the LA County Coroner would only confirm that the body was a woman. Early reports on CBSLA.com and ABC7.com stated the body was that of a man.
Asked if a name or anything else was available, a coroner’s spokesperson said, “No [other] information is releasable.”
In recent years, the alley has been dumping sit for old tires, worn couches and other large debris. As late as 2013, this journalist visited the alley to photograph the items frequently dumped in the area immediately adjacent to the Bestway Market.
District 3’s council person, Eloy Morales, Jr., is up for reelection in April. Morales has been in office since 2003. His biographical page on the City of Inglewood’s Web site, however, has only the statement, “Sorry, you have reached a page that is no longer available!”
Earlier this year, Morales was found to have benefited greatly from his personal and professional relationship with recently disgraced Centinela Valley School Board member Jose Fernandez. According to a July 27 story in the Daily Breeze, “Centinela Valley awarded a $400,000 contract to a consulting firm that employed Eloy Morales Jr., an Inglewood councilman whose family has long ties with Fernandez.”
Fernandez was formally fired in late August after months of articles detailing excessive pay as well as criminal investigations by the FBI and the LA County District Attorney.
Neither Morales, nor Inglewood Police Department’s (IPD) chief, Mark Fronterotta, nor IPD spokesperson James Madia responded to requests for comment.
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a weekly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Mr. Fleming’s views are his own and do not reflect the views of CityWatch.) PHOTO CREDIT: Walter B. Dorsey, III, left, with his grandfather, Walter B. Dorsey II, in 2003. THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY.
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CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 1
Pub: Jan 2, 2015
