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Shantell Martinez, 18

Shantell Martinez (2007-07-30)

Shantell Martinez, 18, a young woman of black-Latino heritage, was shot in the head in a cul-de-sac at 2501 West View Street north of Adams Boulevard in LAPD's Southwest Division about 5:15 p.m. Monday, July 30. Her time of death was listed as 8:30 that night.

Three other people were wounded in the confrontation -- a man or youth and two young women or girls -- but survived.

Shantell Martinez and friends. Her nickname, according to notes left at the scene, was "White Girl.Police said Martinez and the other three victims were in a group of about 10 people, mostly women and girls, when a car pulled up. The occupants began quarreling with the group on the street. The people in the car started shooting. One of the wounded, a young woman who was struck in the torso, remained hospitalized. Martinez died of her injuries at a hospital. The confrontation occured along the sound wall that divides the eastbound lanes of the Santa Monica Freeway from the neighborhood just east of La Brea Avenue.

Her name spelled out in candles. The slope behind abuts the eastbound lanes of the Santa Monica Freeway at La Brea Avenue

Photos: Above, Shantell Martinez and friends. Her nickname, according to notes left at the scene, was "White Girl." Below, her name spelled out in candles. The slope behind abuts the eastbound lanes of the Santa Monica Freeway at La Brea Avenue.

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