HAWTHORNE POLICE DEPARTMENT
PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2014
Arrest Of Outstanding Homicide Suspect CEDRIC STATEN
A Gardena man has been arrested and charged with killing a Hawthorne taxi driver following a parking dispute.
In the late afternoon of February 10, 2014, Hawthorne Police Officers responded to an assault victim down at 12821 S. Prairie Avenue, City of Hawthorne. They discovered 53-year-old Eddy Nwanyanwu of Hawthorne, on the ground convulsing. Nwanyanwu was treated by Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel and transported to Harbor UCLA Hospital where he succumbed a short time later.
Hawthorne Police Detectives, assisted by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detectives, began their investigation. Through this collective investigation, Detectives determined that Nwanyanwu, a taxi cab driver by occupation, was in the Prairie Avenue business center when he became involved in a parking dispute with a female subject. At some point, this female made a phone call and summoned a family member to the location. Investigators believe that the person called was 28-year-old Cedric Dominic Staten of Gardena. Video surveillance from the complex’s cameras show Staten approach Nwanyanwu in the parking lot, and without provocation, punch the victim in the head area at least once, time knocking the victim to the ground. Staten is then seen running away from the area.
Staten was subsequently arrested on February 13, 2014 in Los Angeles. He was booked at the Hawthorne City Jail and is being held in lieu of $1,000,000.00 bond.
On February 18, 2014, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office charged Staten with one count of Murder. Staten will be arraigned today, February 18, 2014, at the Airport Branch Courthouse.
Contact: Lieutenant Scott Swain
Detective Bureau Commander / Public Information Officer
(310) 349-2835 Desk