Vaiola Vaipulu, 60

Vaiola Taufalele Vaipulu, a 60-year-old Tongan woman, was shot and killed on Sunday, Aug. 2, in the 6700 block of Olive Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Long Beach Police detectives were called to Vaipulu’s home about 7 a.m. to investigate a suspicious death, according to spokeswoman Marlene Arrona. 

Vaipulu’s husband discovered her choking earlier that morning and called 911, according to coroner’s records. The operators instructed him to perform CPR until help arrived. When paramedics got to the house, they pronounced Vaipulu dead at the scene at 6:52 a.m.

No foul play was suspected until the coroner’s investigator came to the home and noticed what appeared to be a gunshot wound on Vaipulu’s left arm, according to the coroner’s records. That’s when Long Beach detectives were called to the scene. 

Vaipulu’s death was ultimately ruled a homicide, from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to coroner’s records. 

Patrick Fereti Mose, 25, of Long Beach, was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder in Vaipulu’s death.  The Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged him Wednesday with one count of murder, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and possession of a firearm by a felon. 

Mose is being held in lieu of $1 million bail in Long Beach City Jail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at Los Angeles County Superior Court  in Long Beach.

A Long Beach Police Department news release said investigators found surveillance video linking a vehicle to the killing and traced it to Mose. The department has not released a motive for the killing or whether Vaipulu knew Mose. 

“It does not appear to be a random shooting,” Arrona wrote in an email. “The motive remains under investigation, and the detectives urge anyone with information to call them."

People with information can contact Det. Todd Johnson or Det. Shea Robertson at (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

Email the Homicide Report. And follow@latimeshomicide on Twitter.