Sources: USC student killed near campus may have been attacked twice

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Supporters of slain USC student Xinran Ji, in photo, gather for a press conference after the arraignment of Jonathan Del Carmen, Andrew Garcia, Alberto Ochoa and Alejandra Guerrero in downtown Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

2/17

Supporters of slain USC student Xinran Ji, in photos, gather for a press conference after the arraignment of Jonathan Del Carmen, Andrew Garcia, Alberto Ochoa and Alejandra Guerrero in downtown Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Family attorney Rose Tsai, right, and many other supporters showed up to show their support for victim Xinran Ji outside court. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Students bring white flowers to the memorial service to honor Xinran Ji. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Xinran Ji in a photo displayed at the memorial service for the slain USC graduate student. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Jinhui Du, center, mother of USC Chinese graduate student Xinran Ji, 24, is escorted by family members into Universal Chung Wah Funeral Home in Alhambra. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Songbo Ji, left, and Jinhui Du, fourth from left, parents of USC graduate student Xinran Ji, 24, break down during a press conference outside of the Universal Chung Wah Funeral Home in Alhambra. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Relatives of Andrew Garcia talk with the media after he, Jonathan Del Carmen, Alberto Ochoa and Alejandra Guerrero appeared in court, accused of killing USC grad student Xinran Ji. Left to right are Garcia’s father Cresencio Garcia Jr., sister Rosemary Garcia, mother Rosalie Garcia and brother Chris Garcia. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith announces the arrests in connection with the killing of USC student Xinran Ji at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Comstat room. (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

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USC students walk by blood on the sidewalk on Orchard Avenue between 29th and 30th streets near USC after an attack that killed a graduate student. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A USC Public Safety vehicle sits in front of the apartment building where USC engineering graduate student Xinran Ji was found dead. He was the victim of a brutal assault, police said. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD detectives do a follow-up investigation in front of the apartment building where University of Southern California engineering graduate student Xinran Ji was found dead. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman says the fatal attack on a USC graduate student may have been a crime of opportunity, but it’s unclear whether the victim was robbed. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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The scene outside an apartment near USC where a graduate student was found dead inside. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A USC student was found dead in an apartment near campus. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officers investigate around the apartment building where a USC Chinese graduate student was found dead. He was the victim of an assault a few blocks from campus, the university said Thursday. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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A USC graduate student from China was found dead at an apartment in the University Park area north of campus. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

By Richard Winton

and Kate Mather

July 29, 2014 4:11 PM PT

Investigators believe the USC graduate student killed near campus last week may have tried to get away from his attackers after the beating began but was assaulted a second time, law enforcement sources said.

The sources, who were familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly, said there was evidence indicating Xinran Ji struggled with his attackers. The evidence, they said, also indicated the 24-year-old was beaten a second time after the initial assault.

Jonathan DelCarmen, 19; Andrew Garcia, 18; Alberto Ochoa, 17; and Alejandra Guerrero, 16; each face one count of murder in connection with Ji’s death, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Tuesday. The four also face a special allegation that the death occurred during an attempted robbery.

The juvenile suspects will be tried in adult court. It is The Times’ policy not to publish the names of juvenile suspects unless they’re being charged as adults.

A criminal complaint alleges that Garcia, Ochoa and Guerrero used a bat and a wrench in the attack.

The four are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty against Garcia and DelCarmen. Ochoa and Guerrero are not subject to the death penalty because of their age, prosecutors said, and instead face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Under California law, prosecutors have discretion in certain crimes, including murder, to charge a minor as an adult. The courts, however, have ruled that minors are not subject to the death penalty.

Ji, an engineering student from China, was attacked about 12:45 a.m. Thursday as he walked home from a study group. Despite a head injury, he managed to make his way back to his apartment a few blocks away, where a roommate later discovered his body.

Prosecutors allege that after attacking Ji, the suspects drove to Dockweiler Beach, where Ochoa, Garcia and Guerrero approached a man and woman. The three allegedly robbed the woman, but the man managed to escape and flag down police officers patrolling the area.

The complaint alleges that Garcia, Guerrero and Ochoa again used a bat at Dockweiler Beach and that Guerrero and Ochoa also used a knife.

The three were charged with second-degree robbery, attempted second-degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with that incident, prosecutors said.

Detectives believe a 14-year-old girl who was detained in connection with the Dockweiler Beach robbery also was involved in Ji’s assault “in some manner,” LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Monday, though the “detail and depth” of her alleged involvement was not clear.

The two girls were detained by the officers who were flagged down by the victims at Dockweiler Beach, and detectives from the department’s Pacific Division began investigating, according to an LAPD source familiar with the investigation. The three other suspects were taken into custody later that day and a vehicle believed to be connected to the crime was impounded.

Meanwhile, detectives with the Criminal Gang Homicide division who were investigating Ji’s assault issued a department-wide bulletin for a vehicle sought in their case, the source said. The officers who impounded the vehicle in connection with the Dockweiler Beach robbery realized it matched that description, helping investigators link the two crimes.

Police said there were no indications the suspects were gang members or that the attack on Ji was racially motivated.

Detectives also said they believe the suspects may have committed other crimes Wednesday night or early Thursday, Smith said.

Law enforcement sources said security cameras and a license plate reader helped identify the suspects in Ji’s death. USC Public Safety Chief John Thomas said the suspects were apparently not aware of the network of technology — including 150 cameras — scattered on and around campus.

Both the university and Los Angeles police amplified their security resources at the South L.A. campus and surrounding neighborhood after two Chinese graduate students were shot and killed in a botched robbery in 2012.

Six months later, a man opened fire outside an on-campus Halloween party, injuring four people, though none of those victims were students.

For breaking crime news, follow @lacrimes and @katemather.