Woman Killed During Kidnapping; 2 Suspects Held

Two reputed Compton gang members were ordered held without bail Thursday, after police accused them of kidnapping a man and woman at a Long Beach restaurant, driving them to Compton and fatally shooting the woman.

Maria Benavidez, 19, of North Long Beach was shot when her companion tried to wrestle a handgun from one of the abductors, said Compton Police Lt. Danny Sneed. The shooting occurred about 11 p.m. Wednesday, near Alameda and Caldwell streets. Benavidez was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where she died.

The male victim, whose name was not released, told police that he belonged to a rival Compton gang and that the two suspects were driving him to Compton to kill him. “He was acting in self-defense,” Sneed said.

The suspects are brothers, Jeremy Charles Myles, 20, and Leon Myles, 19. They have been booked on suspicion of kidnapping, carjacking and murder.

Sneed said the two victims had recently met each other, and arranged to meet Wednesday at a restaurant at 69th Street and Paramount Boulevard in Long Beach.

As the couple left the restaurant, they were approached by the brothers and ordered at gunpoint into the back seat of Benavidez’s car, Sneed said. It was during the drive to Compton that the fight occurred.

After the woman was shot, the male victim began wrestling with the brothers, and the driver stopped the car, Sneed said. The male victim and the driver continued wrestling, tumbling out of the car onto Alameda and into the view of a passing sheriff’s deputy.

Both suspects ran, but 20 minutes later they were caught several blocks away by sheriff’s deputies and Compton police.