REWARD OFFERED IN DEATH OF 92-YEAR-OLD $50,000 FOR HELPING SECURE CONVICTION.Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer MISSION HILLS - Just before dawn Feb. 2, as she had nearly every morning for a decade, Mama Sofie shuffled her 92-year-old frame around her Panorama City block, trying her best to stay young. Sofia Gomez, a Guatemalan immigrant with a penchant for Las Vegas' nickel slots, dyed her hair red, polished her nails and pointed out all the ``old'' people in the neighborhood - many of them 20 years her junior. ``She always thought of herself as young, and worked hard to look that way, too,'' said Sonia Salgado, one of Gomez's 10 grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . Gomez was also a loving and gentle woman, which makes it impossible for her family to understand why she was killed Feb. 2, fatally fa·tal·ly adv. 1. So as to cause death; mortally: fatally injured. 2. So as to result in disaster or ruin. 3. According to the decree of fate; inevitably. Adv. 1. beaten as she returned home from her early morning walk. ``It's a horrible person who would do that,'' said Gina Hernandez, another granddaughter. ``You live there for 10 years, you think it's safe. Everybody liked her. Everybody knew her. She was defenseless.'' On Monday, relatives, politicians and police offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and prosecution in the slaying. ``We refuse to accept that nobody saw anything,'' said City Councilman Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is a politician in California. He was elected as the State Senator for the 20th District of California in November 2006 and was inaugurated in early December. In order to enter the Senate he had to resign as Councilman for the 7th District on the Los Angeles City , who secured the reward from the council. ``It doesn't make sense to us, at this time of day in a working-class neighborhood, that nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything and nobody knows anything. It's clearly a cold-blooded person that would attack a 92-year-old woman.'' Gomez came to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in 1973 from Guatemala, where she turned her love of children into a full-time job, working as a baby sitter. She also served as the matriarch of a huge family, including three children, 10 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson. She organized family gatherings and cooked for everyone, often making Chinese food, especially barbecued chicken. She played with the children, ruffling their hair and making sure they had enough to eat. ``She took care of every one of us,'' Salgado said. ``She loved to see all of her grandchildren.'' Police have no idea why she was attacked that Thursday morning. A neighbor found her lying on the sidewalk A Microsoft service that was launched in 1997 to provide online arts and entertainment guides on the Web for major cities worldwide. In 1999, Microsoft sold Sidewalk to Ticketmaster, which continued to provide guides, ticketing and other information to the MSN network. and, thinking she'd fallen, called 911. It wasn't until she arrived at a hospital that doctors discovered she'd suffered blunt-force trauma to the head and realized she had been beaten. Police have no witnesses, even though it happened at a time when people are often leaving for work. They don't believe Gomez was robbed or that her death was gang-related. ``This was a tragic and brutal murder,'' LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Detective Jim Freund Jim Freund is a radio personality and a prominent figure in the speculative fiction community as host of the Pacifica Radio show Hour of the Wolf and as curator of the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series. said. Anyone with information on the case can call Mission Area homicide detectives at (818) 838-9810 during business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a , or (818) 838-9800 after hours Adv. 1. after hours - not during regular hours; "he often worked after hours" . Josh Kleinbaum, (818) 713-3669 josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Above, family members of slain 92-year-old Sofia Gomez, left, listen as LAPD Capt. John Incontro gives details they hope will lead to the arrest of the person who fatally beat Gomez on the sidewalk outside her home. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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