Two released in party gun battle

Prosecutors say they need more evidence to consider charges.

Two men arrested on suspicion of murder after a bloody gun battle at an underground Jamaican restaurant over the weekend have been released without being charged, according to officials.

Mowayne McKay, 33, and Diego Reid, 25, were released from jail Tuesday evening after prosecutors said they needed additional evidence to consider formal charges against the men, said Det. Meghan Aguilar, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

An investigation into the violence that killed four is continuing, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney.

McKay and Reid, who are Jamaican nationals, are not thought to be the men who initially confronted and killed the first victim at the non-permitted restaurant in the West Adams neighborhood, Los Angeles Police Capt. Peter Whittingham told The Times. Those gunmen remain at large, he said.

At the time, Whittingham said it was not yet known how many, if any, people were killed by shots fired by McKay or Reid. But after consulting with prosecutors, police decided the evidence against the men was strong enough to arrest them.

Generally speaking, if a person has been arrested on suspicion of committing a crime but is not formally charged within three days, he or she must be released from custody.

McKay and Reid were arrested on suspicion of murder early Sunday after they were found at area hospitals seeking treatment for gunshot wounds. At the time, Whittingham said eyewitness accounts and other evidence, including videos, led police to the men.

Gunfire erupted at Dilly’s Kitchen on Rimpau Boulevard after two men confronted another man and fatally shot him, according to police. The dispute, which occurred during a birthday celebration, probably arose from a drug deal gone bad, Whittingham said.

As some 50 birthday celebrants ran for cover, a gun battle broke out between associates of the man who was killed and the two men who had confronted him, the captain said.

Nine men and six women were struck by gunfire. The four who died were all men, police said. Their identities have not yet been released.