Police announced today that a fifth person has been arrested in connection to the slaying of an Army veteran who was gardening outside his North Long Beach home when he was killed by stray gunfire.
Mario Morales-Moreno, a 51-year-old father of two, was killed on April 4. Police have said they don’t think he was the intended target in the shooting, which detectives believe was gang-related.
Last week, Long Beach police said detectives had arrested four people for the slaying.
Police said they arrested a fifth on Tuesday: a 20-year-old Long Beach woman named Jamie Tucker.
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Police said she was charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder — similar charges to her co-defendants — and her bail was set at $8 million.
Police did not detail exactly what role Tucker is alleged to have played in the killing.
Morales-Moreno was a well-known and respected member of the neighborhood, according to friend Kristi Wyffels, who started an online fundraiser for his wife and two children.
“Mario had so many hopes and dreams for his future,” Wyffels wrote in the fundraiser. “He was taken from us too soon.”