Police Arrest 2 More Suspects in Alley Slaying of Girl, 3 : Violence: Development brings to six the number of people in custody. Two of the accused killers appear in Juvenile Court.

Los Angeles police arrested two more suspects in the dead-end shooting death of Stephanie Kuhen on Wednesday, and confiscated three handguns.

Arrested were Anthony Rodriguez, 27, and Manuel Rosales, 21, both of Cypress Park, Cmdr. Tim McBride said.

A juvenile also was taken into custody and released, McBride said.

The arrests came as two 16-year-olds also accused in the Sept. 17 shooting faced a judge, each accused of one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder--one charge for each occupant in the car ambushed on a dead-end street in Cypress Park.

The shooting left Stephanie Kuhen dead, and her brother, Joseph, 2, and driver Timothy Stone, 25, wounded.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom O’Brien requested a fitness hearing to determine if the teen-agers can be charged as adults, a prospect that would make them eligible for sentences of at least 25 years to life.

Juvenile Court Judge Jaime Corral set an Oct. 19 hearing to decide the matter and continued the arraignment to that date.

Clad in orange coveralls and shackled at the hands and feet, the defendants sat quietly, answering only questions about their names, ages and addresses. Only the family of one defendant was present, and left afterward in tears.

The mother said before the court session that her son, a 10th-grade student at Eagle Rock High School, had been a gang member for about a year, despite her admonitions against it. She maintains that he was asleep at home at the time of the attack.

Authorities allege that he was one of the shooters who fired .45- and .380-caliber handguns at the vehicles.

“It gives a mother shame to know that her son is a gang member,” the woman said. She said her son has been arrested before. His attorney, Glenn Stevens, would only say that the teen-ager has “another case” unrelated to the Cypress Park shooting.

Despite the jail-issue garb, tattoos that appeared to be gang-related were evident on the arms of both defendants. One of the suspects was missing his left hand.

Corral ordered the pair held without bail.

Neither attorney would comment on potential pleas or tactics, and left soon after the proceedings.

“We just asked for a continuance to look at the evidence and discuss it with the D.A.,” said Rosemarie Gallegos, the court-appointed attorney for one of the teen-agers. “That’s all I can say because it does involve a minor.”

Stevens would only say that defense attorneys prefer to keep cases in Juvenile Court, but that serious cases such as this tend to be sent to adult criminal court.

Authorities hope that tendency holds true. Two adults also have been charged in the murder. Marcos Antonio Luna, 23, and Marvin Alejandro Pech, 18, appeared in court Tuesday. Their cases were continued to Oct. 11.

A seventh man originally described as a prime suspect, Vincent Caldera,23, remains in custody on a parole violation. The district attorney’s office, however, has said it has no plans to charge Caldera in the case, based on current evidence.