A 20-year-old man is facing a murder charge after a young child was found in a Panorama City parking lot on Saturday.
Malik Brycson Gaddis was booked for murder and domestic violence causing injuries, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Gaddis, who appears elsewhere in jail records as Brycson Malik Gaddis, is accused in the death of a child found dead near a dumpster in the parking lot of a mall in the 8200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard.
That location is less than half a mile from an apartment complex on Lanark Street where three people were detained on Tuesday. Two others were found at Sunset Boulevard and Ivar Street in Hollywood, police said, bringing the total number of people detained to five.
KTLA’s Kareen Wynter reports that while Gaddis has been arrested and one other person was arrested on an unrelated warrant, the other three were released from custody.
At least one neighbor, however, believes police have identified the wrong people in this case.
Toriono Coleman said he and his wife know Gaddis and his wife well.
“We talk almost every day — especially [his wife and I] because she’s best friends with my wife,” Coleman said. “We pray together and we share meals.”
Coleman added that he’s speaking on Gaddis’ behalf because he loves them and thinks they are being unfairly targeted.
“All he does is play games and do his best to take care of his family,” said Coleman.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
