EL SEGUNDO : Charges Filed Against 4 in Slaying of Woman

Murder and attempted murder charges were filed this week against four people in the slaying of the daughter of an El Segundo City Council member and an attack on her adopted daughter.

Robert Brendon Foster, 18, Linnette O’Neill Blocker, 18, Marcus Terral Brewington, 19, and Erica Dawn Olson, 20, were charged with murder with the special circumstances of killing during a robbery.

If convicted, they could face the death penalty. The charges came in the death of Tairree Lynne West, 25, the daughter of Councilman Alan West. Her adopted daughter, 12-year-old Ashley, was stabbed in the neck. The dead woman’s 4-month-old daughter also was gagged during the attack last Wednesday at West’s apartment in El Segundo.

Police said one of the motives was robbery, but West and Foster also were involved in a dispute related to Foster’s romantic relationship with Olson, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven G. Levine. Levine said Olson was a baby-sitter for the infant, and had a key to the apartment. Police said Olson may have been living in West’s house in exchange for child care.

The defendants were ordered held without bail, with arraignment set for March 1.