Arrest in drive-by shooting that killed boy, 8, visiting home

POMONA, Calif. -- Police in southern California say they have arrested a suspect in the slaying of an 8-year-old boy who was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was about to have dinner inside a home.

The Pomona Police Department said Sunday it has arrested 35-year-old Sengchan Houl in the killing of Jonah Hwang.

Officials say Houl was arrested without incident in an unincorporated area of Pomona and has been booked at the Pomona City jail.

The boy died Feb. 20 after being shot in the head.

Police said Jonah and his family were visiting a Pomona home for dinner when someone shot at the home, hitting three times. No one else was hurt.

His family has said Jonah was adopted from an orphanage in Taiwan less than three years ago.

Family friend and pastor Adam Donner told CBS Los Angeles said the family was breathing a bit of a sigh of relief over the arrest but still don’t know why the shooting happened.

“They [the family] still have a long road of healing,” Donner said. “The arrest doesn’t answer a lot of questions. They are grateful for the work the police have done and grateful that it ends this part of it, but they still don’t have a child.”

Police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting.

The home had been the target of a previous drive-by shooting in January in which no one was hurt, and has been shot at twice since the boy’s killing, the station reports.