Witnesses recall slaying

LOS ANGELES — Witnesses testified Thursday during the preliminary hearing for a man accused of killing his wife outside a bowling alley in April and later shooting at Glendale police officers during a three-hour standoff at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Glendale.

Witness Lorraine Page wiped tears from her face as she looked at a photo of a puddle of blood from Kelly Munoz, whose husband, Rene Munoz, 38, is charged with her April 3 shooting death and the attempted murder of four Glendale police officers.

“Kelly’s body was on the ground,” Page testified. “She had blood underneath.”

Kelly Munoz was found shot to death outside a bowling alley on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles at about 8 p.m. April 3. Less than two hours later, Glendale police received a call reporting gunshots and a suspicious vehicle on the cemetery grounds on South Glendale Avenue.

When police approached Rene Munoz at Forest Lawn, he began firing at them, but no one was hit, police said.

Police surrounded Munoz and were contacted by a family friend, who said he was suicidal and had a firearm. Officers got Munoz’s cellphone number and tried to negotiate with him, but Munoz was threatening to shoot officers, police said.

After several hours, Munoz appeared to be stepping out of his vehicle, but he suddenly stepped on the accelerator and charged a police barricade blocking the entrance to the cemetery, police said.

Officers fired shots at Munoz’s black Escalade, and it crashed into one of the patrol cars, where stopped. Rene Munoz was shot in the upper torso. He survived his injury and appeared in court Thursday.

At the hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Margaret Rizo asked Los Angeles Metropolitan Superior Court Judge Melissa Widdifield whether she could amend the attempted murder charges related to the police officers to attempted willful, premeditated murder of a peace officer while on duty. Widdifield allowed the amended charges against Munoz.

But the murder charge took center stage during the hearing.

Page testified that moments before Kelly Munoz was killed, Rene Munoz approached Page and asked whether she knew of a Mr. Bryant. She told him ‘no.’ He later asked his wife the same question, to which she replied, “Let’s go,” Page testified.

Cherylyn Tillman, who was on Kelly Munoz’s bowling team, testified that she saw Kelly Munoz sitting inside a black SUV that night talking to the driver, whom she could not identify.

“I just saw Kelly talking, and her hands were moving and he was looking at her,” Tillman said.

The SUV looked similar to an Cadillac Escalade, she said.

Tillman testified that she then entered the bowling alley, where someone immediately approached her and told her a woman was lying on the ground.

“And I said, ‘It couldn’t have been Kelly ’cause I just saw Kelly sitting in the car talking to some guy,’” she said.

Witness testimony is expected to continue today.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at [email protected].