Long Beach police release video of person of interest in August shooting of mother and daughter

The Long Beach Police Department on Monday released surveillance footage of a person of interest in the shooting of a mother and child who were walking home from the grocery store. 

The footage shows a man in his 20s or 30s entering a convenience store at the intersection of Locust Avenue and East 9th Street, the scene of the shooting, shortly after Carina Mancera, 26, and her 4-year-old daughter, Jennabel Anaya were gunned down on Aug. 6, according to a news release.

At the time, Mancera was walking home from the grocery store with her boyfriend, Luis Anaya, and daughter when a man approached and opened fire, according to Long Beach Police Sgt. Robert Woods. 

Mancera died at the scene; Jennabel was pronounced dead later at a hospital, according to coroner’s records. Luis Anaya was unhurt.

Anaya told The Times he didn’t recognize the shooter, whose face was “all covered up.” The two briefly made eye contact before Anaya saw the gun.

"I couldn't make his face," he said. "When I tried to look at him, he shot at me."

The video also shows the person of interest, whom police want to interview, on a Metro Blue Line train at 5th Street and Long Beach Boulevard. Police said he got off at the San Pedro station in downtown Los Angeles. 

Investigators believe the man, who was last seen on the train with luggage, may have left the state.

The man was described as black, roughly 6 feet tall, between 220 and 250 pounds with facial hair and probably in his 20s or 30s, Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said. In the convenience store video, he can be seen furiously wiping his forehead and neck with a white rag before buying a drink. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

The Long Beach City Council and the county Board of Supervisors have offered separate rewards for information leading to an arrest in the shootings, totaling $40,000. But police leaders in Long Beach have bemoaned the lack of calls in the days after the killings.

Anyone with information is asked to call (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report. Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Image: A person of interest is seen in a convenience store near the scene of a double slaying shortly after the shooting. Credit: Long Beach Police Department via YouTube