SHOT-UP HOME PREVIOUSLY VISITED BY GUNS AND DRUGS

The home where a 3-year-old was shot to death and eight people were
wounded this week has been the site of previous drug activity and gun
violence.

Court records show that Helen Bea Hobbs, 59, the grieving grandmother
who said she couldn't understand why gunmen shot up her home, pleaded
guilty to a drug-dealing charge just three weeks ago.

The case stemmed from a search of 3448 Rosamond in September 2000.
Officers were acting on information from a tipster who told them "Big
Mama" Hobbs was "storing and selling cocaine" at the Rosamond
residence, according to court records.

Three adults, including Hobbs, and five children were wounded by
bullets or flying debris Wednesday afternoon when a man sprayed the
Rosamond house with gunfire. Jessica Borner, 3, later died.

Police say the shooting was sparked by a dispute over a drug deal that
happened in front of the home. They have arrested one suspect and are
searching for two others.

Hobbs has said she has no idea what was behind the gun battle. And
Friday she insisted that, despite last month's plea, she doesn't use
drugs and has never sold them. She said she knows of no drug activity
at her home.

"If I was into drugs, wouldn't I have something to show for it?"
Hobbs said. "Right now I don't have money to buy a Coke. When they
arrested me (in 2000), I had $141 to my name."

However, some neighbors said they have seen what appears to be drug
activity around the Rosamond residence. One neighbor called it a
"crack house."

And court records indicate that Hobbs and two other adults in the
house Wednesday have drug records:

a.. Hobbs pleaded guilty May 20 to possession of crack cocaine with
intent to sell, stemming from the search of her home two years ago in
which officers found 1.9 grams of crack cocaine in a hole in a hallway
wall. Hobbs was charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent
to sell it. After pleading guilty last month, she was put on probation.

a.. Hobbs's daughter, Sandra Denise Hobbs, 31, pleaded guilty to
marijuana possession and driving without a license after undercover
officers watched her buy dope from a street dealer near Sandridge and
Chelsea in May 1997. In 1991 she pleaded guilty to possession of a
controlled substance with intent to sell, but details of that case
weren't available Friday.

Ironically, Sandra Hobbs also has a record related to the reckless
discharge of a firearm.

She was arrested in April 1999 after her unidentified son got into a
fight with a neighbor's nephew, according to court files. When
neighbor Luella Smith fired her shotgun into the air to break up the
melee at 3442 Rosamond, Sandra Hobbs got a gun and also began firing
into the air.

Hobbs was charged with felony reckless endangerment but pleaded guilty
to a misdemeanor version of the charge. She spent two days in jail,
paid a $250 fine and was ordered to take an anger management class.

a.. Tyrone Taylor, 19, the boyfriend of another of Helen Hobbs's
daughters, sold an undercover detective a rock of crack on May 22,
1999, behind the National Apartments at 1057 National, records show. A
search of his pockets turned up another 22 rocks totaling 7.8 grams.
He pleaded guilty six months later and was sentenced to four years in
prison and a $2,879 fine. He served 30 percent of the sentence and was
released.

Asked to explain the incident that led to her guilty plea, Helen Hobbs
said, "The narcs came into my house and I was at the kitchen table
playing cards. I told them I don't sell drugs. I told them it was not
mine and I don't know who it belongs to."

She said she pleaded guilty because "I was sick and tired of coming to
court."

Hobbs said prosecutors told her if she pleaded guilty, she wouldn't
have to serve jail time. A pre-sentencing report indicates Hobbs has a
heart condition and diabetes and takes 12 prescription
medications.

A mother of five, her income consists of $545 a month from Social
Security. She hasn't worked since 1971.

Asked about her most recent drug conviction, Sandra Hobbs said, "I was
going to smoke it (marijuana). I don't deal (expletive)." She admitted
Friday that she still smokes marijuana.

As for the charge against her mother, Sandra Hobbs said, "They . . .
put it on my mama because she is the head of the household. I said,
'That's my mama; can I take the charge? My mama ain't got nothing to
do with this.' "

Noting that her mother has a large family that includes five children
and 18 grandchildren, she said a lot of people come and go in the
Rosamond house.

"This is our family and the friends that come over with things in
their pockets, we can't do anything about.

"My mama is a church-going lady and I hate they got this (expletive)
on her," Sandra Hobbs said.

Betty Washington, 49, who lives on the other side of Rosamond, said
she knows of Helen Hobbs.

"I knew she kept kids there like a day care," Washington said. "When I
heard she was arrested for drugs, I couldn't believe it."

Cornelius Green, 35, who went in the house after the shooting and
cared for the wounded, said there was always a lot of traffic at
Hobbs's house.

"She (Helen) is really a good person," Green said. "All she had for me
was respect. She was a typical grandmother."

However, Green also said he's seen people at Hobbs's house smoking
dope. "I can't say what she's not doing. I can only say what I see,"
Green said.

Terry Coombs, 50, who lives two houses down from Hobbs, said people
routinely knock on his door asking for Big Mama.

"I'd say, 'Oh, you want the crack house two doors down,' " Coombs
said.

"I want them out," Coombs said of the people in Hobbs's house.
"They're dope dealers and I want them out. I don't know who was
selling dope. I do know people were asking for Big Mama.

"I believe the only innocent one is the girl who died," he said.
Coombs said he has complained to police about Hobbs's home being a
drug house - but nothing was done.

Coombs said he and his wife are scared.

"Anyone who comes unannounced to my door will be met with a weapon,"
he said.

Hobbs said Friday she was unaware of drug activity in or around her
house.

"If it was, I didn't see it. If I had seen it, I would have called the
police. Even on my own children.

"I'm not doing anything illegal. If I can't sit and enjoy my friends
and grandchildren, what can I do?

"I never saw one person on my yard selling drugs."