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Suspect in Long Beach fatal beating previously arrested for Opelousas arson

Posted at 9:07 PM, May 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-15 22:14:52-04

A man arrested in connection with a fatal beating of a Long Beach woman was previously arrested in Acadiana for the alleged burning of his family’s home.

27-year-old Amad Redding was arrested Monday after police say he allegedly used an electric scooter to beat a 63-year-old woman in Long Beach.

Redding has connections to the Acadiana area according to an incident earlier this year.

Amad Redding
Courtesy Louisiana State Fire Marshal

Redding was booked in connection with a fire at his family’s home in Opelousas in January. Redding was the only one home at the time of the fire and suffered third-degree burns to his hands, a February release states.

Below is more information from the Associated Press on the California fatal beating incident.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Police on Tuesday identified a 27-year-old man suspected of beating a Southern California woman to death with an electric scooter, while investigators try to determine a motive for the attack.

Amad Rashad Redding was booked for investigation of murder and is being held on $2 million bail, the Long Beach Police Department said.

Homicide detectives believe Redding used the scooter as a weapon to attack Rosa Elena Hernandez, 63, on a neighborhood street Monday afternoon, a department statement said.

Arriving officers found the victim with significant upper torso injuries. Firefighters pronounced her dead at the scene.

Police began looking for a man who ran from the scene clad in a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and red shoes.

Redding, a Long Beach resident, was taken into custody at a business around 5 p.m. It wasn’t known Tuesday if he had an attorney.

Neighbors said Hernandez was friendly and everyone in her neighborhood knew her.

“It’s sad because I feel for her husband,” Veronica Morales told KNBC-TV . “They’ve been together and lived next door for a very long time. He’s not going to have his wife anymore.”

The motive for the attack was still under investigation, police said.