Man arrested for beating elderly woman to death with electric scooter

A California man was arrested and charged in the murder of an elderly woman after he allegedly beat her to death with an electric scooter, according to KTLA.

Amad Rashad Redding, 27, was indicted Wednesday on one count of murder in the death of 63-year-old Rosa Elena Hernandez.

Authorities said Redding approached Hernandez in Long Beach Monday afternoon, knocked her to the ground and began stomping on her head. When a bystander tried to intervene, Redding then reportedly took an electric Bird scooter and bludgeoned her to death. Officers who responded to the incident found significant injuries to Hernandez' upper torso, KCAL notes. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police don't believe Redding knew his victim, and prosecutors described him as a transient who "randomly attacked" Hernandez. One resident, however, told the station that she had seen Redding in the neighborhood before.

"I’ve seen him, he walks around, I’ve seen him walk around a few times by our house actually," Misty Velasco said.

Those who were familiar with Hernandez, a local babysitter who had lived in Long Beach for almost 40 years, said she was a friendly neighbor.

"She knew everybody in the community, she would walk around, talk to all the Latinas and Latinos who lived in the neighborhood," Dennis Fitzgerald said. "She did not drive, so she just walked every place."

Redding purportedly fled after Monday's assault but was found four hours later at a business, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was previously arrested in February for allegedly setting a fire inside his family's home in Louisiana, according to the Louisiana State Fire Marshal.

Redding is being held on a $2 million bond and faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in jail if convicted.