LOS ANGELES—A street gang associate pleaded guilty April 5 to her role in the robbery and killing of an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who was gunned down in January 2022 while house-hunting with his girlfriend.
Haylee Marie Grisham, 19, entered her plea for her part in the robbery and fatal shooting of Los Angeles Police Officer Fernando Arroyos, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charge of violent crime in aid of racketeering carries a possible sentence of life in federal prison without the possibility of parole because the fatal shooting occurred during a robbery, prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson set sentencing for Sept. 11.
Three other defendants—all suspected gang members—face trial in July in Los Angeles federal court.
On the night of Arroyos’s death, Grisham and her co-defendants were driving around looking for someone to rob when they decided to target the victim, who was wearing gold chains around his neck, according to her plea agreement.
While committing the robbery, the three co-defendants—one of whom was Grisham’s boyfriend—killed Arroyos, the document states.
“When defendant participated in this robbery ... she was a major participant and acted with reckless indifference to life,” according to the plea agreement.
Also charged with violent crime in aid of racketeering to increase and maintain position within the Latino gang based in South Los Angeles were Luis Alfredo De La Rosa “Lil J” Rios, 30; Ernesto “Gonzo” Cisneros, 23; and Jesse “Skinny Jack” Contreras, 35.
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva indicated at the time of their arrests that he directed detectives to take the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office because of his opposition to District Attorney George Gascón’s decision to no longer pursue sentencing enhancements in gang cases.
Day of the Shooting
The shooting occurred about 9:15 p.m. Jan. 10, 2022, in the 8700 block of Beach Street, near Firestone Boulevard, in the unincorporated Firestone-Florence area, authorities said.According to a complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Seamus Kane, Rios admitted in an interview with sheriff’s detectives his involvement in the killing, saying he and the other defendants were driving around looking to “make money,” which he further explained meant to rob a person of property or money.
Federal prosecutors allege that Rios and Cisneros exited a black pickup and confronted Arroyos, a three-year veteran of the LAPD, and his girlfriend as they were searching for a home to purchase in the area.
The two gang members allegedly pointed guns at the victims and removed property from both, including a wallet and two silver chains from Arroyos’s neck, said sheriff’s Capt. Joe Mendoza.
“At some point after Cisneros removed [Arroyos’s] chains, [Arroyos] and the two suspects exchanged gunfire,” according to court documents.
Arroyos sustained a single gunshot wound, ran from the area, and collapsed in an alley as the two suspects left the scene in the truck.
Responding sheriff’s deputies found bystanders performing CPR on Arroyos, Mendoza said. The deputies loaded Arroyos into a patrol car and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives retrieved a loaded handgun from the scene belonging to one of the suspects, and the sheriff’s department received a report of a man suffering from a gunshot wound in the area of Junction Street and East 60th Street about a mile-and-a-half from the site of the shooting, Mendoza said.
Investigators later determined the wounded man was Cisneros and he had sustained the gunshot during the shootout with Arroyos. Contreras was also found in the area hiding inside the garage of his residence in the 5900 block of Junction Street.
A second handgun was retrieved from Contreras’s residence, Mendoza said.
Rios and Grisham—who were then a couple—were later found and taken into custody at their home.
