Cruise John Howard Skipps, 23
Cruise Skipps, a 23-year-old Samoan man, was shot and killed Tuesday, June 2 in the 13000 block of Prairie Avenue in Hawthorne, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records and law enforcement.
About 1:30 a.m., Skipps and a woman went to the woman’s estranged husband’s apartment, said Lt. Dave Coleman with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The woman was at the apartment to collect some of the her belongings. As Skipps and the woman were leaving, the man pulled out a rifle and shot Skipps, Coleman said.
Skipps was pronounced dead at the scene. Skipps ran a short distance and died on the sidewalk. The woman was not injured.
Sheriff’s investigators identified the gunman as the woman's estranged husband, Christopher Angelo Fennelle, a 25-year-old black man. He was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held on $1-million bail.
Fennelle faces one count of murder with the discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. He is due in court for an arraignment June 18.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this post spelled the victim's name as Skipp. The correct spelling is Skipps.
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