Suspect in Woman’s Death Believed Returned to Area

Donald Lewis Brooks Jr., a San Fernando Valley plumber charged with murder and not seen since late March, may have been in Van Nuys on Monday, police said.

Brooks, 33, is a suspect in the March 24 slaying of Lisa Kerr, a Van Nuys woman he dated over the past year after the two had met at Valley-area Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Police said Brooks abused Kerr, 32, during their relationship and then stalked her after she called it off. He then allegedly left her body in the back seat of her burning car near the Roscoe Boulevard exit of the Hollywood Freeway about 4 a.m.

Police have been unable to find or talk to Brooks since the incident. They charged him in absentia Friday.

On Monday, police discovered Brooks’ 1979 white Dodge Van, California license 4T92660, gone. It had been parked near his Van Nuys plumbing business since the slaying.

Brooks has the only keys to the van, said Det. Rick Gonzalez of the LAPD’s Foothill Division. Police also discovered that a second car belonging to Brooks, a red Ford Mustang, had been moved about 2 feet from where it was last spotted. It is likely Brooks moved both cars, Gonzalez said.

Police did not say why the vehicles were not impounded earlier.

At a news conference Tuesday, Kerr’s friend, Kimberly Hyer, said Kerr had complained repeatedly that Brooks was stalking her. Hyer, 32, said she and Kerr were trying to get Kerr out of the situation, but “Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough or a quick enough job.”

Brooks is described by police as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He has brown hair and eyes, has a lightning bolt tattooed on his right forearm, wears clear plastic braces on his teeth and has a small scar at the base of his neck.

Anyone with information on Brooks’ whereabouts or Kerr’s death is asked to call (818) 834-3115.