Blanche, unborn

An unborn black female, identified by the coroner as "Baby Blanche," was discovered during an autopsy on Shontae Blanche, 22, a black woman, who died of blunt-force trauma Monday, Nov. 5.

Blanche, who was a couple of months pregnants according to coroner's records, was killed after assailants in a car deliberately rammed her near the intersection of Slauson and Western in South Los Angeles.

Times reporters Richard Winton and Jean-Paul Renaud reported on the fight:

A brawl among about 30 women near a busy South Los Angeles intersection turned deadly Monday when a woman plowed her car into the crowd, killing a woman who was eight months pregnant, authorities said.

Los Angeles police said that at least two other women were hurt, one critically, when they were rammed by a gold convertible near the corner of West Slauson and South Western avenues. The victim in critical condition is expected to lose her leg, authorities said. Police officials said the motorist sped off after driving into the crowd, but that she later showed up with her mother at the 77th Street station and was being questioned there by homicide detectives Monday night.

The brawl was part of a planned showdown between two groups of women in their early 20s, according to LAPD Cmdr. Pat Gannon. The cause of the dispute was unclear, he said.

The fight began shortly after 2:30 p.m. at a Big Lots discount store parking lot, where witnesses saw women shouting at one another and fighting, Gannon said. The brawl then spilled onto the street and across Western to a nearby 76 gas station.

At the gas station, the driver of the convertible got into her car and drove into a group of women, pinning one of them against another car, Gannon said. Meanwhile, a crowd of dozens gathered.

"It was totally an intentional act to kill the woman. It was the driver's way of settling the dispute. It was a horrific act," said LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck.