Community Corner

Men Accused of Fatally Stabbing Lynwood Woman are Charged

Three men identified as transients, are accused of stabbing the Lynwood resident after she declined to to give them money.

Three transients were charged today in connection with the stabbing death of a Lynwood woman who took their picture outside the Hollywood & Highland Center and refused their request for money.

Dustin James Kinnear, 26, was charged with murder, while Jason Joel Wolstone, 33, was charged with assault by means likely to produce bodily injury and two counts of accessory after the fact and 34-year-old Brian Joseph Widdows was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact.

All three were scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in downtown Los Angeles.

Find out what's happening in South Gate-Lynwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The three men are accused of stabbing the woman around 8:10 p.m. Tuesday near the American Eagle store along Hollywood Boulevard. The victim, identified by the coroner's office as 27-year-old Christine Calderon, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

According to police, Calderon and a friend were walking in the area when they took cellphone pictures of the men, who were holding signs, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Christopher No said. The men asked her to give them $1, but Calderon refused and she was stabbed in the upper torso, police said.

Find out what's happening in South Gate-Lynwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Calderon's mother, Yolande Tassin, told KCAL9 she believes her daughter was a victim of hate crime.

"Christine's friend wasn't scratched, wasn't touched," Tassin told KCAL9. "They went after my daughter because of how she looked."

Tassin said her daughter came a long way in a short time once she decided what she wanted to do for a career.

"She wanted to be an engineer and her focus was on education," Tassin said. "That was very important to her. She did nothing wrong. She was just taking pictures. I know Christi liked Hollywood."

Tassin said her daughter was attacked in a heavily congested area.

"She was attacked in front of everybody," Tassin said. "People were just scattering every place. They couldn't believe what was happening."

-- City News Service


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from South Gate-Lynwood