Arrest in shooting death of actor Merlin Santana

LOS ANGELES (AP) A woman was arrested early Monday in the weekend shooting death of television and film actor Merlin Santana, but Los Angeles police provided no other details.

Santana, 26, who recently appeared in the Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro movie ``Showtime,'' was shot to death early Saturday while sitting in the passenger seat of a car parked in south Los Angeles.

Police did not release the woman's identity in announcing her arrest.

``The investigation is ongoing, and no further comment will be given at this time,'' Lt. Horace Frank said.

Earlier, police said that at least one person approached the car and opened fire, striking Santana. The driver escaped injury, drove off and flagged down police.

Santana was pronounced dead at the scene, Lt. Clay Farrell said Sunday. No motive for the slaying had been reported by investigators.

The New York-born Santana earned nominations for the NAACP Image Awards and ALMA Awards, which honor Hispanic performers, for his recurring role as Romeo Santana on ``The Steve Harvey Show'' on the WB Network.

``This kid is not a gangster,'' said Harvey, a radio and television talk show host in Los Angeles. ``Whatever the situation as, he didn't deserve to die.''

``Why is it that young people today feel they have no alternative but to murder somebody?'' Harvey said during a KCBS-TV interview Monday.

Santana also had guest appearances on a number of television shows, including ``JAG,'' ``The Cosby Show,'' ``Major Dad,'' ``Moesha'' and ``Sister, Sister.'' He was in the regular casts of ``Getting By'' and ``Under One Roof.''

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)