Eddie Charles Talley II, 65

Eddie Charles Talley II, a 65-year-old black man, was fatally shot on Friday, Sept. 28, in the 600 block of West Palmer Avenue in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

The shooting in Talley’s home also killed his stepdaughter, Britney Malone, 13, and seriously injured his wife, Katherine Evans, according to Evans' niece Shayla Greene. 

Talley’s 43-year-old son, James Jajuan Williams, was arrested in connection with the shootings, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza. Williams lived in the home with his father and stepmother, along with Britney and her older brother and sister, Greene said.

Williams was charged with two counts of murder on Oct. 2, with a special circumstances allegation of multiple murders, and one count of attempted murder, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

Talley was a lifelong resident of Compton and an accomplished athlete who wore No. 44 when he played football at Compton High School, according to his longtime friend, James C. “Butch” Hall. 

“Eddie was Mr. Football at Compton Senior High School, where he played all three years and graduated from,” Hall wrote in an email. “He was a superstar athlete as a running back who set two records back in 1970 for yards rushing and scoring the most touchdowns in Compton High School’s history.”

Talley worked as a security guard later in life, and always dressed with style, said Greene. “Every time I saw him he always had on a suit or a uniform,” Greene said. “I’d never seen him in a pair of jeans. He always dressed to the nines.”

Evans and Talley started dating when her youngest daughter, Britney, was just a baby, Greene said. “Eddie was the only father Britney has ever known, so they were very close.” she said. “She considered him her father.”

Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened in the house on Sept. 28, Mendoza said. 

Evans’ son was at work when he got a call from Talley asking him to come home. He called 911 to request a rescue and then called again, after he arrived at the house around 6 p.m., to report the shootings, Mendoza said. “He’s been obviously distraught.”

Greene said Talley called Evans’ son to say there had been some kind of argument over using a car. “Eddie said to him, ‘Come and get your brother, he’s acting crazy,’” Greene said. “Then he heard shouting, glass breaking and my aunt screaming before the line went dead.”

When deputies arrived they found Williams standing naked in front of the house, where he was questioned and arrested, Mendoza said. It’s not clear why Williams was naked. He had some blood on him, Mendoza said, so deputies took him the hospital to make sure he was all right before they took him jail, where he is being held without bail.

About five hours before the shootings, Williams was spotted on campus at Cal State Long Beach, where he had worked as a maintenance technician for Associated Students Inc., from October 2017 until March, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. 

The campus police received a report about a “disgruntled man” and went looking for him, but were unable to locate him for questioning, university Police Chief Fernando Solorzano wrote on Twitter in a public safety update on Oct. 1. No one on campus was harmed, he said in the release. “Unfortunately  this same individual — a former ASI employee — allegedly committed two murders that evening in Compton…. On behalf of the entire campus community I want to offer my condolences to those who have been touched by these tragic events.” 

Investigators found a handgun in the house that they believe was the murder weapon, Mendoza said. 

Williams pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Oct. 2, according to the district attorney’s office release. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Department D of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Compton Branch. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.  

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.