Signal Hill man arrested in April shooting that killed a man, injured a woman

LONG BEACH » A 19-yearold Signal Hill man was arrested on suspicion of killing a man and injuring a woman in a shooting in Long Beach, police announced Monday.

Jimmy Ray Hawkins Jr., 47, and the unidentified woman were seated in a parked vehicle in the 3300 block of Andy Street on April 22 when two suspects approached them in a lightcolored sedan and opened fire, the Long Beach Police Department reported.

Officers were dispatched to the scene of the shooting and arriving paramedics pronounced Hawkins, a Bellflower resident, dead at the scene.

Paramedics also rushed the woman inside the vehicle to a hospital in critical condition, where she was treated and subsequently listed as stable.

The light-colored sedan and the suspects inside that vehicle fled the location prior to police arrival. However, LBPD units arrested Santiago Rivera on Thursday in connection with an unrelated homicide and “discovered incriminating evidence” that linked him to the April 22 shooting.

Santiago was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in the April killing, and was being held on $6 million bail.

No information was available on the second suspect in the shooting.

The unrelated homicide Santiago was arrested in last week was the killing of Duwayane Thomas shortly before 11 p.m. on June 3 in the area of 14th Street and Walnut Avenue. Five suspects were arrested in that case.

Long Beach police homicide detectives are investigating the April shooting as being possibly gang-related, and urged anyone with information regarding the shooting to call them at 562-570-7244 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.