Two charged with murder in killing of man in wheelchair outside McDonald’s

Two people have been charged with murder in connection with the killing of a homeless man sitting in his wheelchair outside a McDonald’s in South Los Angeles earlier this year, prosecutors said.

Gerold Lipeles, 69, was shot in the head May 17 on West Century Boulevard, police said. He was asleep outside the fast-food restaurant when a woman walked up and shot him. Lipeles died of his injuries five days later at a hospital, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

On Tuesday, police and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Taskforce arrested two suspects in Lipeles’ killing: Raymundo Hernandez, 37, and Blas Canche, 32.

A third suspect, 37-year-old Rubi Anguiano-Salazar, was already in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s custody on unrelated charges. All three are from Los Angeles and were booked on suspicion of murder.

The case was presented Thursday to the L.A. County district attorney’s office, which said it was filing charges against Anguiano-Salazar and Hernandez, but did not mention Canche.

Authorities believe Anguiano-Salazar also shot a 67-year-old homeless woman May 21 in front of the Encore Motel on West Manchester Avenue. She approached Stella Polly and started to talk to her, then shot Polly in the back when she started to walk away, police said.

Nearby business owners saw Polly lying in the street and called 911, police said.

Anguiano-Salazar was booked on suspicion of attempted murder.

Both cases were presented to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office on Thursday.

Anguiano-Salazar was charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, including special allegations of use of a firearm, infliction of great bodily injury and use of a firearm during a specified offense.

Hernandez was charged with one count of murder.

Anyone with information about the shooting of Polly can call the 77th Street station at (323) 786-5420. Anyone with information about the killing of Lipeles can call the South Bureau Homicide Division at (323) 786-5100. Anonymous tips can be made at (800) 222-8477.