Monrovia: Jason Gentile, 22

Jason Gentile, a 22-year-old white man, was shot and killed Tuesday, Dec. 15, at South California Avenue and East Colorado Boulevard in Monrovia, authorities said.

Gentile was killed -- and a 21-year-old female friend wounded -- when they were shot crossing a street in Monrovia, authorities said.

The two were walking near California Avenue and Colorado Boulevard shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday when they were approached by at least five men, one of whom pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The assailants fled the scene, said Whitmore, whose agency is assisting the Monrovia Police Department with the investigation.

Gentile, who lived in the neighborhood, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:20 p.m., and the woman, who was shot in the foot, was treated and released from a hospital, he said.

The shooting is being investigated as gang-related. Police did not have a description of the assailant.

-- Ruben Vives

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Map: The location where Jason Gentile was shot. Credit: Google Maps

Former reality show contestant pleads not guilty in girlfriend's slaying

Former reality TV show contestant Brian Randone, 45, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment today to charges of torturing and killing his girlfriend, Felicia Tang Lee.

Prosecutors allege that Randone, a Christian minister and contestant in the 2000 Fox pageant "America's Sexiest Bachelor," tortured then suffocated Lee, 31, in the home they shared in the 500 block of West Duarte Road in Monrovia.

Read the complete story on L.A. Now.

-- Anthony Pesce in Pasadena

Dispatch: 'She did not deserve to be beaten … she was a nice gal and she didn’t deserve it'

Shortly after noon on Friday, Sept. 11, Brian Lee Randone, a 45-year-old white man, called 911 to report that his girlfriend of several months was not breathing.

Authorities found Felicia Tang Lee, a 31-year old Asian woman, dead in the home in the 500 block of West Duarte Road in Monrovia that she shared with Randone.

When responding officers arrived at the scene, they determined the evidence did not support Randone’s account of what happened, said Lt. Liam Gallagher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Randone was arrested within hours and was charged four days later with killing and torturing Lee. He is in jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

Lee — an actress and model — had been beaten and choked, according to authorities. Prosecutors said torture charges were filed because of the severity of her injures and evidence that she died slowly.

Coroner’s officials said they would not discuss Lee’s specific injuries because they are still waiting for test results. Her official cause of death has been deferred pending those findings.

Randone’s court-appointed attorney did not return calls for comment. He appeared in court Sept. 15, and  his arraignment was continued until Sept. 29. He has not entered a plea.

On paper, at least, the pair seemed an unlikely match.

He was educated as a minister. She had appeared nude in adult films.