Lily Burk, 17, was set to become a senior at North Hollywood's Oakwood School. Her body was found early Saturday, July 25, 2009, in downtown Los Angeles. A 50-year-old parolee is in custody in connection with the case.
Assistant Chief of Police Jim McDonnell, left, listens as Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz, center, speaks Monday, July 27, 2009, during a news conference regarding the murder 17-year-old Lily Burk. A 50-year-old parolee, Charlie Samuel, was booked for investigation of the murder of Burk at 11:45 p.m. Sunday after fingerprints in Burk's car linked him to the killing, Diaz contended at the news conference. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
A career criminal already in custody for drinking in public and carrying a cocaine pipe was charged Monday with beating a 17-year-old girl to death after police matched his fingerprints with those found in the car where her body was found.
Police say parolee Charlie Samuel, 50, abducted Lily Burk Friday afternoon in the Mid-Wilshire area and forced her to try to withdraw money from various ATMs before killing her in a downtown parking lot. Samuel had abandoned the car, with Burk's body in the passenger seat, about a half-hour before his arrest by mounted officers patrolling Skid Row, where he was drinking beer, police said at a news conference Monday.
The brutal slaying of Burk, a Los Feliz resident who was to start her senior year at Oakwood School in North Hollywood this fall, has shocked a city all too familiar with violent crime. At a news conference outside the LAPD's Parker Center headquarters, LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said the crime "really hits home for all of us."
"I have a 17-year-old daughter myself and I can't even imagine what the family has gone through over the weekend. "And this is something that for all police officers and everybody in the city, I think, it really hits you right in the gut," McDonnell said. "A tragic event for the whole city family today."
There were signs of a struggle in the black Volvo where Burk's body was found. Detectives said the girl had suffered head trauma. After Samuel was booked on suspicion of murder, police said, he provided details that enabled authorities to piece together a basic chronology of events.
Burk left her family's Los Feliz home about 2 p.m. Friday to pick up some papers for her mother, Deborah Drooz, a law professor at Southwestern University School of Law in the Westlake area. Samuel, who is 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, abducted Burk about an hour later as she was about to get into her parked car near Wilshire Boulevard and Wilshire Place. Police said that no weapons were involved.
Between 3:35 p.m. and 4 p.m., Burk called each of her parents to ask how she could use her credit card to get cash from an ATM. Her father, Gregory Burk, told her that the credit card could not be used at an ATM, police said.
"There was no sense by the parents that she was in trouble," McDonnell said. According to police, Burk made arrangements with her father to go to their home to pick up money, but she never made it there.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, Samuel left the Volvo, with Burk's body inside, in a parking lot at 458 S. Alameda St. However, Burk's body was not found until 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
By that time, Burk's parents had reported her missing, and police had started looking for her and her car. After her body was found, fingerprints collected from the Volvo linked Samuels to her killing. Already in custody, he was booked on suspicion of murder. Police have been working with the District Attorney's Office and hope to see charges filed as early as today.
Samuel was in Los Angeles to complete a court-ordered program as a condition of his parole from an earlier conviction for theft, police said. "He has a colorful criminal history," LAPD Lt. Al Pasos said.
Nick Goldberg, a spokesman for Burk's parents, said the family remains in shock over the slaying and have asked for privacy. There were no immediate plans for a vigil or service.
"We are grateful that the police apprehended someone so quickly and that this man is off the streets," Burk's parents said in a statement that was read to KTLA by a family friend. "We don't want him to hurt anyone else. We will now let the legal process run its course." And in a statement released over the weekend, Burk's parents described their daughter for those who never knew her.
"The thing we want people to know about Lily is that she was a beautiful person and that she was looking forward to her life. She was funny, warm, kind and empathetic. She was deeply and widely loved."
She had been attending Oakwood, a private school wedged between the Hollywood Freeway and Magnolia Boulevard North Hollywood. The school's mission statement says it strives to teach each student "independence of thought, intellectual integrity, and moral depth" and prepare them to participate in a democratic society. On Monday, administrators on campus said neither students nor teachers were available for comment.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League issued a statement on its Web site saying the case was "an unfortunate and horribly tragic example of why the LAPPL has vehemently opposed the early release of prisoners and minimizing the seriousness of parole violations as a means of reducing the state budget deficit. We are more passionate than ever about this issue because of the tragedy of Lily Burk."
The police union said Samuel had been arrested on April 23 on a parole violation. Earlier, in February, he was released from state prison where he was serving time after an arrest for petty theft with a prior conviction.
"This is precisely the type of 'low level' parolee the state no longer wants to take responsibility for," the police union said.
