Sketch Released of Suspect in GI’s Slaying

Sheriff’s homicide investigators on Thursday released a description of the gang member suspected of gunning down a 19-year-old Army private in Baldwin Park on his first night home from service in the Persian Gulf. But officials said the identity of the suspect, also sought in the slaying of the serviceman’s cousin and the wounding of two neighbors, still is not known.

The assailant is being described as 15 to 16 years old, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a medium build. He has a light complexion, short dark hair and was wearing a dark brown Pendleton-type shirt buttoned to the collar, Deputy Hal Grant said. The teen-ager is suspected of fatally shooting Pvt. Cesar Gardea and his cousin Pablo Paez, 17, on Tuesday as they stood in the front yard of Paez’s house.