KIDS SEE MOM GUNNED DOWN; POLICE FEAR KILLER LAY IN AMBUSH.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

Leticia Morales-Carranza's relatives say that it was cruel enough for someone to gun her down, a young and defenseless mother.

But to do so in front of her three young girls is unspeakable, they said Friday.

``Whoever did this didn't have a heart,'' said a tearful Linda Rodriguez, 21, Morales-Carranza's sister-in-law.

Investigators suspect that Morales-Carranza's killer was lying in wait when she pulled into the driveway at her Vanscoy Avenue home at 8:35 p.m. Thursday.

While her three daughters, Mariela, 10, Marlene, 6, and Nayeli, 3, were still inside the vehicle, Morales-Carranza stepped out of the car to open the garage door.

At that moment, a man walked up and fired several rounds into the 26-year-old woman, described by relatives as a happy-natured housewife and devoted mother. She died at the scene.

The children were not physically harmed.

``At least one of them did see the suspect,'' said Lt. Ron LaRue of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Division.

LaRue said Friday police had no suspect or motive, and appealed to the public for help. Anyone with information is urged to call [phone].

``All I can say is that it does not fit a random gunshot'' killing, LaRue said.

Yodel Powers, a fashion consultant who lives next door to Morales-Carranza, said she heard loud, staccato noises Thursday night, followed by children's screams. But she didn't think much of it.

``I thought it was just firecrackers and kids playing,'' she said.

On Friday, the three motherless girls were in the custody of Los Angeles County child welfare authorities, LaRue said.

Morales-Carranza's grief-stricken mother, Maria Guadalupe Morales, 46, who lives a couple miles away from her daughter in Sun Valley, said she pressed authorities to release the girls to her care. But there was no indication when or if that would happen, LaRue said.

Ismael Carranza, the father of two of the girls, lives in the Vanscoy Avenue home, but was in Mexico at the time of the killing, family members said.

Since learning of his wife's slaying, he has been unable to cross the border into the United States because of immigration problems, family members said.

Morales-Carranza had been with her husband in Mexico until shortly before her death, but cut short her trip when her mother took ill, they said.

Morales said she learned about her daughter's killing Friday morning from the television news.

The mother said that her family kept the killing a secret from her Thursday night, out of fear that it would injure her already-precarious health.

Earlier this week, Morales fell ill at her factory job in Burbank, and spent two nights at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

At home on Friday, she turned on the television when family members weren't watching.

``I saw her red blouse, I knew it was her,'' said Morales, convulsing in sobs, her face stained with tears.

Mother and daughter last saw each other the day of the killing, when Morales-Carranza picked up Morales at Providence Saint Joseph and drove her to the mother's small house on Vineland Avenue.

In the early evening, Morales-Carranza left her mother to pick up her children at an in-law's home. She was making a quick stop at the Vanscoy Avenue home before returning to her mother's house when she was killed, family members said.

Morales-Carranza spent her childhood in Jalisco, Mexico, the second-oldest of six siblings. She came to the United States with her family about 10 years ago, said her brother, Javier Morales, 25.

She attended middle school in Sun Valley. But at 15, she became pregnant with her first child, and ever since devoted herself to the youngsters, siblings said.

Neighbors said that Morales-Carranza and her family had only moved into the neighborhood recently, and they knew little about them.

``Basically, they kept to themselves. A little mariachi music once in a while, that's it,'' said Ray Tyndall, 50.

On Friday, Los Angeles police Detectives Rocky Sherwood and Vince Bancroft combed for clues on the street outside Morales-Carranza's home. Religious candles burned in the driveway and fall leaves fell on the front yard.

As neighbor Gloria Alas pruned roses across the street, Bob Zuber said the killing was the worst crime he can recall in his 30 years as a homeowner on Vanscoy Avenue.

``I feel very bad for the children,'' he said, looking toward the Morales-Carranza's driveway.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Maria Guadalupe Morales and her son Hermilo Cabrera, 12, grieve for her daughter on Friday.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News

(2--color) Leticia Morales-Carranza, a 26-year-old mother of three seen here in a family photo, was shot to death Thursday.

(3--color) Devotional candles burn in the North Hollywood driveway where Leticia Morales-Carranza was killed by an unknown gunman.

(4) LAPD Detectives Vince Bancroft, left, and Rocky Sherwood examine the Vanscoy Avenue crime scene.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News