Woman Suspected in Fatal Shooting of Richmond Teen Surrenders to Police

A woman suspected of shooting and killing a teenage boy near a Richmond apartment complex last week is in jail after turning herself in to San Francisco police on Monday, a police spokeswoman said today.

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Melinda Leketia Gaffney, 30, of Richmond, remained in San Francisco police custody this morning, a day after turning herself in on a $1 million warrant for the murder of 16-year-old Terrance Forks, according to Richmond police spokeswoman Sgt. Nicole Abetkov.
 
Gaffney will be transported to Contra Costa County jail in Martinez this week, Abetkov said. She said the Richmond woman is suspected of shooting Terrance multiple times after fighting with the teen in front of the Crescent Park apartments in the 3900 block of Fleming Avenue on April 8.
 
Officers arriving on the scene around 10:20 p.m. found the boy suffering from gunshot wounds. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
 
Witnesses to the killing provided police with the license plate number of the suspect's getaway white Lexus sedan, which Richmond police found abandoned last Wednesday.
 
Detectives have learned that Gaffney and the teen knew each other before the shooting, but have not determined the exact relationship or a motive for the killing, according to Abetkov.
 
She is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. Police said Gaffney was the alleged shooter in the killing and is the only identified suspect.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Richmond police at (510) (510) 233-1214 or the anonymous tip line at (510) 232-TIPS.

—By Bay City News Service