The mother of the 17-year-old girl who was found burning on a South Los Angeles street said she was told that the corpse was identified as her daughter by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Division.
Officially, neither the LAPD nor the coroner’s office has identified the victim. The coroner’s office said a security hold was put on releasing the victim’s name.
Selamawit Wright learned of her daughter’s death when police came looking for the victim’s parents. She wasn’t home, but went to the police station where she was showed a picture of her daughter Terrey Wright.
Wright, who operates a hair salon and tattoo shop, and came to the United States from Ethiopia in 1989, said her daughter usually kept in close contact with her family, which includes her mother, four sisters and one brother.
“She said she was going to visit a friend, but didn’t say who the friend was,” Wright said.
Wright said her daughter had planned on joining the Army when she was 18. She had just turned 17.
The body was found at 319 W. 94th St., near Broadway, around 9:40 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
A call was made to authorities to report that the body was burning in the street, prompting a response by firefighters and police, said Los Angeles police Lt. Andy Neiman of the Media Relations Section.
Selamawit Wright held a candlelight vigil at the crime scene on Saturday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (877) LAPD-24-7.
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