Jerica Denise Owens, 25

Jerica Denise Owens, a 25-year-old black woman, was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 22, in the 1900 block of Chestnut Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Long Beach police officers were called to the apartment building about 8:30 a.m. regarding a possible domestic violence incident in progress, and found Owens lying in an alley outside the building, according to a department news release. 

Owens was pronounced dead at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds to her head, according to coroner records. 

Witnesses told investigators that a man shot Owens and then left the scene with a toddler before officers arrived, according to the news release. 

An officer arriving at the scene noticed a man who matched the suspect’s description at an apartment building one block away, in the 1800 block of Chestnut Avenue, according to the release. The officers surrounded the building and forced entry into the apartment to rescue the boy, whom they feared was in danger, according to the release. 

The child was unharmed and put in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. 

Two male adults were detained when the boy was rescued, but investigators said they didn’t know the relationship between the men, the child and Owens. NBC4 News interviewed neighbors, who said the toddler and suspect lived with Owens in the apartment building, and that neighbors spotted the child running naked after the shooting. 

One of the men, Eric Jerome Williams Jr., a black, 29-year-old resident of Long Beach, was arrested on suspicion of murder. 

Williams was charged with murder, child abuse, being a felon in possession of a handgun and injuring a child's parent, according to a spokeswoman from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Williams is being held without bail and scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 14 in Department S01 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court Long Beach Courthouse. According to court records, Williams is the father of Owen's child. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Long Beach Homicide Detectives Teryl Hubert, Sean Irving or Oscar Valenzuela at (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.  

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.