Gang Members Charged As Adults in Honor Student Murder

Melody Ross, 16, was shot after a homecoming football game

Updated 9:26 AM PST, Sat, Nov 7, 2009

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Two 16-year-old reputed gang members have been charged as adults with murder for the fatal shooting of a Long Beach high school honor student after a football game last Friday.

Tom Love Vinson and Daivion Davis are also charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting that killed 16-year-old Melody Ross and wounded two others.

They are expected to be arraigned sometime today in Long Beach Superior Court. Both are being held in lieu of $3 million bail.

Ross, was shot around 10 p.m. following the homecoming football game at Wilson High School when two groups of gang members began fighting.

A number of students were dressed in costumes celebrating on the day before Halloween. Ross was dressed as "Supergirl" according to the LA Times.

Two men, ages 18 and 20, were wounded but are recovering.

Neither suspects attended either Wilson or Long Beach Poly High School, which played Wilson in the homecoming game, police said.

Ross was "an innocent bystander who was not involved" in the fight, according to Police.

Ross was a junior at Wilson, where she was on the track team and enrolled in advanced placement classes, according to Long Beach Unified School District officials.

Copyright City News Service / NBC Los Angeles

First Published: Nov 6, 2009 9:50 AM PST

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