Charges announced in killings of 7-year-old, 17-year-old

Authorities on Tuesday announced charges in two killings, including the fatal shooting in December of a 7-year-old boy in Mid-City.

Charles Adam Hall, 17, was killed Sept. 1 in a drive-by shooting in Mid-Wilshire. Police said a gun was fired at Charles from a white four-door sedan in the 1400 block of South Redondo Boulevard.  On Dec. 2, Taalib Pecantte, 7, was a passenger in a car along with his mother and a man, when he was fatally shot about two miles away from the first killing.

The two shootings were linked to an ongoing gang feud, said LAPD Det. Steven Katz.

Four black men, including two brothers, Tradel Billy Faniel, 28, and Windel Roman Faniel, 26, were charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with Taalib's killing, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Paul Eugene Jamar, 19, and Danielle Peters, 31, were also charged with murder and attempted murder, according to the criminal complaint.

“They’re all associates,” Katz said of the defendants, who were arrested Feb. 20.

Tradel Faniel was also charged with murder in the killing of Charles, along with three additional counts of attempted murder, according to the complaint. Katz said that the investigation is ongoing, and it is unknown whether the man acted alone or with others.

Authorities announced a $50,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for Taalib's death. The Game, a rapper, raised $17,000 for the boy’s funeral and also called on gang members to leave guns at home during the holiday season.

Katz said that it is too soon to know where the reward money will be distributed, but said that it was “helpful” in generating information in the case.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz