72-Year-Old Woman Dies After Man Punched Her For Interrupting Fight: Police

California -- California -- A 19-year-old man was arrested this week in the death of an elderly woman in Long Beach, California, last year, authorities said Thursday.

Lawrence Jackson, of Bellflower, California, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 72-year-old Barbara Scott's murder, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

On Aug. 21, 2021, Scott came across Jackson and an unidentified woman arguing in an alley in Long Beach and attempted to intervene. The man punched Scott, knocking her down, police said.

Jackson and the woman involved in the argument fled the scene before police arrived, authorities said.

At the time, police arrived to find paramedics treating Scott, who complained of pain to her upper body. She refused further medical attention and returned to her home after being interviewed by investigators.

When police went to check on her hours later, they found the elderly woman unconscious and transported her to a local hospital.

On Sept. 16, 2021, police were informed that Scott died in her nursing home.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office reported that Scott's cause of death was blunt head trauma.

After an investigation by homicide detectives, police identified Jackson as the suspect, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant against him.

Jackson was arrested during a traffic stop in Bellflower Wednesday.

He was booked into the Long Beach City Jail for one count of murder. He is currently being held on $2 million bail.

Last month, a 20-year-old man was arrested in Long Beach for firing a gun during an argument, the Long Beach Post News reported.

The suspect, identified as Joshua Adolfo Martinez, of Long Beach, got into an argument with another man that led to the 20-year-old firing the gun on June 19, the Long Beach Police Department said. Martinez then fled the scene in a black vehicle, according to authorities.

No one was injured in the incident, police said.

Officers later found Martinez inside his car, just one block north of the location of the shooting, police said.

Police arrested Martinez and recovered the gun from the vehicle.

He was booked on suspicion of assault with a firearm on a person, simple possession of a controlled substance and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle. His bail was set at $50,000.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.