Teens charged as adults in slaying of Wilson High honors student

Two 16-year-olds were charged as adults this morning in the shooting of a Long Beach honors student last week after a Wilson High School football game.

Tom Love Vinson and Daivion Davis, identified by authorities as gang members, were each charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. 

Vinson and Daivion allegedly opened fire a week ago outside the school, striking and killing Melody Ross, a popular 16-year-old whom police said was an innocent bystander.

Two men -- an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old -- were wounded in the shooting, which occurred about 10 p.m. as crowds of students gathered near Ximeno Avenue and 10th Street for a dance. Police believe the men may have been the intended targets and that the shooting was the result of a gang feud.

At first, detectives struggled to find witnesses even though hundreds of students were in the immediate area when the shooting occurred. Police said more students came forward Monday, some at the urging of school officials.

The shooting shocked faculty and students at the campus, a diverse school that serves some of Long Beach's most affluent communities.

Ross was wearing a superhero costume to Wilson's homecoming game against Polytechnic High School. A number of students at the game were decked out in costumes on the day before Halloween.

The suspects are being held on $3 million bail and face life in prison if convicted. They will be arraigned later today in Long Beach.

-- Shelby Grad

Comments

[Just Say'n]

Those scum bag low-lives being charged as adults is such great news to me, and I really hope justice is serve. I just can't understand why they shot in a crowd of people.

[americant]

life in prison? WOW, what a wonderful waste of tax dollars...free meals, free medical, cable tv and gym membership...

fry 'em...

do that several thousands of times across america, WOW talk about stimulus AND a reduction of taxes and debt...

[PC BS]

Pictures, folks, so we can avoid trouble in the future...

[TheBigPicture]

I'm still shocked that affluent White teenagers committed this murder...Where is todays youth headed...

[Degar]

Two less, now that a good start!

[A Concerned American]

Justice??? Life imprisionment is not justice. These fools are still breathing and NOW are and WILL be costing us MILLIONS OVER THEIR LIFE TIME!!!

WAKE UP AMERICIA AND CLAIFORNIA!!!!
Give them the death penalty and mae an example of them...

For those against capital punsihment, wait til one of YOUR children is killed, raped or sexual abused. Then when you can walk in my shoes, then you will understand the pain. Seeing a convited felon alive in prison working out does not make the pain go away. Doing away will help, knowing they will be able to hurt anyone AGAIN and AGAIN............

[Mark]

When I was in High School we had good old
fashion fist fight's if you had a problem
with someone. Everone lived to fight another day, how much guts does it take to drive by in a car and pull the trigger a few times... none. These wanna be gangsters are all COWARDS. R.I.P young lady

[Cara D]

Honors student gets murdered and the media goes hogwild. Take a look at the Homicide Report here on the LA Times website and see how many murders here in L.A. bever even make the news. It's all sad.

[Charles]

Question of the day: Why are 16-year-olds just mere children when it comes to having sex, but suddenly morph into adults when they commit certain crimes? What these 2 have done is of course horrible, but they should be tried as JUVENILES!!

[Affluente LB Local]

The shooters were not affluent white students, In fact the school that it was playing was just the oppiste and in a known gang school in long beach, and has been for many years. Kmaybe it is time to let the teachers spank the kids as they are growing up and screwing up in school. It sure worked for the first 200 years of the USA....

[KK]

Hang them quickly. Save taxpayers dollars.

[yoshiyahu]

Gangbangers are pathetic. Every one knows that your chances of getting killed by one go down the more they are aiming at you. They hit more bystanders than intended targets.

Doesn't that make them ashamed? Don't they feel like the pathetic losers they are? You'd expect that gang leaders would have some class and concern for their public image, and insist that their membership learn how to properly use their firearms.

That way, gangbangers could actually hit what they are 'aiming' at. Then they'd kill each other, and not kill innocent babies, kids and old folks, and the rest of us could live our lives in peace.

[Jet]

Charged as juveniles? You have to be kidding. Either way charge them as juveniles...just make sure they never see the outside of a city street again. Honors students are a more sympothetic victim. Why would a high school drop out get as much attention? Why would some kid who was on the wrong side of the law be a sympothetic victim? Let's see she wasn't white or hispanic but a minority just the same. I guess so much for the "whites" only mentality that goes on in this city be certain goups. I guess this is just a picture of a honors student on the right tracks doing all the right things and getting killed because she went to a game story. It just happens to be the one that got our attention. There were others killed after her and there will more killed after that. Some will get attention and others won't. That's just the way things are.

[JohnHenry]

The suspected killers are African-American.