New Twist in Shooting Death of Deputy

LONG BEACH -- The Long Beach Police Department says yesterday's fatal shooting of sheriff's deputy Maria Cecelia Rosa was a homicide, and the motive appears to be robbery. Earlier, Sheriff Lee Baca had said the deputy may have inadvertently discharged her service weapon and shot herself as she was placing equipment in her car before going to work.

Rosa, 30, a six-year department veteran, was found slumped over the open trunk of her car early Tuesday with a gunshot wound to her upper body, police said.

Investigators combed the neighborhood for about six hours after the shooting, fanning out in all directions and speaking with residents on surrounding blocks. Two K-9 units were brought in, but the dogs were not deployed.

Rosa, known as "Sessy," owned a home in Pomona but had spent the night at the Eucalyptus Avenue home of a fellow deputy, Jenny Martin. Rosa sometimes stayed there to cut down on her commute, according to Martin's relatives.

A native of Sonora, Mexico, Rosa worked at the sheriff's Inmate Reception Center at the central jail in downtown Los Angeles.

She was the second L.A. County sheriff's deputy to die in less than a week. On Thursday, Deputy Pierre Bain, 45, a 14-year veteran of the force, was killed in an on-duty motorcycle accident in Lancaster.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•