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Los Angeles man charged in fatal shooting in 1990 cold case murder

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A suspected gang member was scheduled for arraignment Thursday, April 19, in a 1990 cold case fatal shooting of a Los Angeles woman and the attempted murder of her companion, the district attorney’s office announced.

Michael James Tharrington, 41 (dob 04/02/71), is scheduled to be arraigned in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He is charged in case No. BA396614 with one count of capital murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of second-degree robbery. The felony complaint includes the special circumstance that he committed the murder during a robbery.

Tharrington of Los Angeles is charged with fatally shooting Ann Yao, 31, on Feb. 10, 1990. Yao was sitting in her car parked on Lucerne Avenue south of Wilshire Boulevard when she was shot once in the head. Tharrington also is charged with shooting the male passenger sitting in her car and stealing his car that was parked nearby.

The capital murder charge makes this a potential death penalty case. Prosecutors will decide later into the trial whether they will seek the death penalty. The defendant is being held without bail.

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