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Man arrested in death of tennis stars' sisterRosenberg: 'We believe there were three, possibly four shooters'
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Authorities have arrested and charged a 24-year-old man in the shooting death of Yetunde Price, the eldest sister and personal assistant to tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Price was shot to death early Sunday, police said, during an altercation in Compton, the Los Angeles suburb in which the sisters were raised. A spokeswoman said the family had returned to the Los Angeles area, describing them as devastated. Aaron Michael Hammer has been charged with murder and is being held without bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said Hammer was one of six people questioned at a home on the street where the shooting took place. "We don't know what the motive is," he said. "It's been a problem residence on prior occasions. Although we believe [the shooting] may be involved in narcotics or gangs, there is certainly not enough evidence to substantiate it in the investigation." "We believe there were three, possibly four shooters," Rosenberg told CNN's Soledad O'Brien in an interview Monday. Price, 31, was shot in the chest after she and a companion were involved in a dispute with other people on the Compton street, said Deputy Scott Butler, a department spokesman. The companion, identified as Rolland Wormley, 28, also was jailed on a parole violation charge for his involvement in the incident, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Pena. Witnesses told investigators that Wormley and Price were involved in a dispute with residents, which led to gunfire, Pena said. They then sped away in a sport utility vehicle, witnesses said. Police said Wormley drove the mortally wounded Price to the home of a friend eight miles away in Long Beach and phoned 911. Price was rushed to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Authorities said that they found an assault rifle at the crime scene and that as many as 20 shots may have been fired. Rosenberg said casings found in the yard were of the same type as those used by the rifle. He said that lab tests would determine if they were fired from the weapon. Price was the tennis stars' half sister, the daughter of Oracene Price and her first husband. She was Oracene Price's eldest of five daughters. Richard Williams is the father of Venus and Serena. Yetunde Price accompanied Serena Williams to the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles in July, where the tennis star won awards for best female tennis player and best female athlete. Serena thanked all of her sisters, calling her eldest sibling "'Tende." The slain woman lived in Corona, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Compton. She was divorced and left behind three children, ages 5, 9 and 11. Friends said she worked as a registered nurse and at a hair salon. Residents of the Compton neighborhood said the area can be a rough place after sundown. Ruth Grant, 51, who has lived on the street for more than two decades, said she heard the gunfire shortly after midnight and then went to sleep. When she awoke in the morning to prepare for a Sunday school class, she said she saw helicopters flying overhead and dozens of police in the street. Such occurrences are not routine, she said. "Every once in a while, you hear cars going by burning rubber and shooting, but that's not often," Grant said. CNN correspondents Frank Buckley and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report.
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