Aspiring rapper, two mothers killed in Benedict Canyon shooting. Families ask why
More details are emerging about the victims of a shooting in Benedict Canyon on Saturday morning that left three women dead and four people hurt.
The three who died, all with roots in the Chicago area, were two mothers and an aspiring rapper who a friend said was in L.A. for a music album release.
More than 30 shots rang out in a matter of seconds, hitting the rented Porsche sports utility vehicle where the women were sitting early Saturday morning. They had been among people linked to a short-term rental on the block where the gunfire occurred.
Lifelong friends, they died seated alongside one another, police said.
The attack wasn't random but targeted at members of their group, said LAPD Capt. Jonahan Tippet. Detectives in the Los Angeles Police's elite Robbery Homicide Division have been scouring security cameras in the ritzy neighborhood and interviewing survivors, and have developed some strong leads on the gunman, officials said.
Iyana Hutton, 33, was trying to get into the music business before she was killed.
"Iyana had started to do well with promoting and getting her ... music heard. They went out [to L.A.] for [an] album release party," said artist Mick E. Finnz, a longtime friend of Hutton.
Earlier that night they visited a bowling alley before returning to their rental home, he said. Finnz said he has known Hutton since fifth grade and another victim, Nenah Davis, 29, since seventh grade.
Davis, of Bolingbrook, Ill., was one of Hutton's best friends, he said. She was a mom who once worked as a nurse. The third woman, Destiny Sims, 26, of Buckeye, Ariz., a mother of three and a hairstylist, grew up in Illinois before moving west with her family.
Finnz wondered if something happened at the bowling alley to set off the deadly events that night. But Tippet said detectives have already checked that out and found no evidence of any altercation.
Investigators won't say what led to the killings.
None of the women had a criminal history that would suggest any connection with such violence, according to Tippett.
Keith Hutton, the aspiring rapper's father, wrote on social media: "I would have never thought that I would be saying this to any of my children, never in my lifetime. My first born girl ... I love you so much.
“I thank god for all the moments that you and I have shared.”
That Facebook post was followed with a note saying he appreciated the condolences.
Sims was born and raised in Chicago, her mother Donna Howard told NBC 5 in Chicago. Howard said she has no idea what led to the shooting but is shattered beyond words.
"I don't wish this pain on nobody ever," Howard wrote on Facebook.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
