Melody Ann Brewer

Melody Ann Brewer, a 17-year-old white female, died Monday, Jan. 31, after being shot in San Pedro, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Los Angeles police detectives said Melody Brewer was never believed to be the intended target of the January 31, 2000 homicide in San Pedro.

LAPD Detective Paul Inabu said he and another detective assigned to the case gelled quickly around the idea of a gang-related hit. They knew a man had walked up to the car and sprayed it with bullets. The man sitting in the driver’s seat wasn’t struck by a single round. But Brewer took nine shots to her body. The girl Inabu believed was the intended target was 22-year-old Cher Mitchell, who was standing next to the Camaro. She died at the scene, too. Inabu said she, Melody, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was the first double-homicide of Inabu’s career, and he remembered the sheer number of bullet casings at the scene. He said the detectives knew quickly Brewer was an innocent bystander. They even thought they might have a good lead on who pulled the trigger.

But during the investigation, witnesses clammed up. The driver who saw the whole thing was uncooperative. After a few months, Inabu said the case stalled. Now 15 years later, the case has moved to LAPD Detective Mike Whalen’s unsolved murder files. But Inabu has never forgotten the scene and the grief that sent Melody’s mom to the ground in tears that night.

Anyone with information regarding this homicide, please contact LAPD Homicide Detective Inabu or Detective Whalen at (310) 786-5100.