Florence Anderson, 71

Died Aug. 26, 2008 at 9:42 p.m.

Florence Anderson, 71, a black woman, was shot and killed about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, in her frontyard in Pomona.

After arriving at her house in the 700 block of Mayfair Avenue, police found Anderson, pictured at left, lying in the frontyard with gunshot wounds to the upper body. Anderson's nephew, Calvin Wimbley, and her 17-year-old great-nephew were wounded.

Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anderson's daughter, Brenda Tribble, 51, said her mother was often outside because she suffered from asthma. She said her mother was well-respected in the community and sometimes called Mother Anderson. "She helped so many people," Tribble said, adding that her mother would sometimes let homeless people stay at her home.

"It's terrible," Anthony Bonner, 23, a neighbor, said on hearing about Anderson's death.  "She was a wonderful lady and good for the community."

Tribble said she had spent all night waiting for police officials to end their investigation.  About 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters hosed down blood from the small front patio where Anderson and her nephew and great-nephew were sitting when they were shot. About 7 a.m., a police officer escorted Tribble past the yellow tape and to her mother's house.

Tribble said it did not bother her too much to enter her mother's home. "I have Christ, brother," Tribble said.

Photo: Right, Anderson's daughter, Brenda Tribble, waits for firefighters to clean the blood from her mother's patio. The bloody water flowed alongside the curb.

Credit: Ruben Vives