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Emma Liza Melchor, 27

Emma Liza Melchor, a 27-year-old Latina, was pronounced dead on Thursday, April 11, after she was shot in the 1800 block of East Alondra Boulevard in Compton, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner records. 

Melchor had been living with her family in Moreno Valley after she was paroled from prison in February, but she left home a short time later after a disagreement with her mother and started staying with friends in Compton, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Derrick Alfred. 

"She didn't like her mom's rules," Alfred said. 

On April 11, deputies were called to an abandoned commercial building around 8 p.m. after someone reported finding a dead woman inside. 

Investigators believe the woman had been dead for several days, Alfred said. It was apparent she had suffered some kind of trauma, he said, but because of the state of decomposition, no one could identify the woman, or how she died. 

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:36 p.m., according to coroner's records. The coroner later identified the woman as Melchor, and after her autopsy determined she died from multiple gunshot wounds. 

Alfred said it was obvious that people had been living in the abandoned building, but no one was there when deputies came to investigate the body. Investigators believe Melchor had been "couch surfing" at the homes of friends, but they don't know if she had taken to living at the building or was just visiting the night she died. 

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. 

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