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Crime Sep 29, 2022
| Photo courtesy of Scott Rodgerson/Unsplash
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A woman with a felony conviction pleaded not guilty Thursday in the shooting death of a homeless double-amputee who was in a wheelchair outside a McDonald’s restaurant in South Los Angeles.
Ruby Salazar, 37, of Los Angeles, is charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder, along with two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The charges include allegations of use of a firearm, infliction of great bodily injury and use of a firearm during a specified offense, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Police allege that Salazar walked to Gerold Lipeles and shot him May 17 as the 69-year-old man was asleep in his wheelchair outside a McDonald’s in the 1700 block of West Century Boulevard, between Western and Normandie avenues.
Co-defendant Raymundo Hernandez, 34, of Los Angeles, is charged with one count of murder. He pleaded not guilty during a Sept. 1 hearing.
Police did not disclose Hernandez’s alleged involvement in Lipeles’ killing.
Detectives also linked Salazar to an attempted murder four days later in which a 67-year-old homeless woman was shot in the back as she walked away from a bus stop in the 1600 block of West Manchester Avenue, also between Western and Normandie avenues, after Salazar allegedly initiated a conversation, according to police.
Salazar has been behind bars since her May 22 arrest by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, according to jail records. Police said she has been rearrested on suspicion of murder.
Hernandez was arrested Aug. 30 by Los Angeles police.
In a statement announcing the criminal charges, District Attorney George Gascón called it an “unthinkable crime.”
“The murder of this victim — who was unhoused and a double amputee asleep in his wheelchair — is disturbingly brutal and callous,” Gascón said.
