
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300118
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL DOUGAN SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
DATELINE: SAN PABLO, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

SMOKER SNUFFS OUT COMPLAINER - WITH GUN

Daphne Luster didn't like being told to snuff out her cigarette by other diners in a Denny's Restaurant, so she killed one of the complainers with a shotgun, according to police who arrested the 22-year-old Richmond, Calif., woman.

The killing of Rachel Houston, 20, also of Richmond, occurred Saturday outside the restaurant 15 to 30 minutes after Luster left in a huff, said San Pablo police Detective Larry Hunt.

Luster later confessed to the shooting, but told police she intended only to fire her shotgun into the side of Houston's car, Sgt. Tim Keefe said.

The killing took place in front of Luster's four children, whom she had taken to the restaurant shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, police said.

"We were told the victim and her friends were seated in the non-smoking area and [Luster] came in and sat nearby with her children," said Hunt. "She lit up a cigarette and the victim commented very loudly about the smoke."

The detective said Luster was ordered by the restaurant manager to extinguish her cigarette, but "she continued to smoke and there were more words" exchanged with Houston and her friends.

Luster then left Denny's, but returned in short order toting a shotgun, witnesses told police. Houston, who was driving her car out of the parking lot, was fired at and struck in the head, police said. The car veered across the road and struck a shopping center.

By the time police arrived, Luster had disappeared and Houston had been declared dead on arrival at Brookside Hospital, said Hunt. Using witness descriptions and a partial license plate number from Luster's car, police were able to identify her, according to the detective.

Luster was arrested at her home Tuesday and booked into the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez, Calif., on a homicide charge, Hunt said. A shotgun believed to have been used in the slaying was found in Luster's home, he added.

Sgt. Keefe said Luster's husband, Edra Luster, did not know about the incident until police arrived to arrest his wife, even though two of her children told officers they had witnessed the shooting.

"They really look like your normal, everyday middle-class family," said Keefe.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB