4 nabbed in S.C. in car stolen from NE woman they're accused of killing

Lyudmila Bershteyn, a 57-year-old Northeast Philadelphia woman who was described by friends as dignified, honest and hardworking, was fatally shot on Tuesday and dumped like a piece of trash in rural South Jersey.

Meanwhile, a carload of Philadelphia residents were drinking booze and smoking marijuana in Bershteyn's stolen 2009 Nissan Murano as they sped through rural South Carolina Thursday morning, police said.

When police in Summerton, S.C., pulled the vehicle over, they found open containers of alcohol, three handguns and bloodstains and arrested the four male occupants in connection with Bershteyn's slaying: Marcus S. White, 18, of Henry Ave near Summit; Damion D. Williams, 27, of Mascher Street near Ontario, and Robby R. Willis, 26, of Marion Street near Hansberry, plus a 17-year-old from the city.

"She got killed for nothing. For a joyride, by these . . . I don't even want to call them people," said Marina Ayzenberg, who worked in the same office building as Bershteyn in Huntingdon Valley, Bucks County. "No one deserves this, especially Mila. She was an honest and good woman."

Ayzenberg said Bershteyn was a Russian immigrant who moved to the Northeast from Los Angeles about 15 years ago. Her children still live in California, Ayzenberg said, but Bershteyn lived on Larkspur Street near Rennard in the Northeast with her husband.

Neighbors on Larkspur said it seemed as if Bershteyn was always working, but declined to comment further. Her children could not be reached for comment.

Bershteyn was an office manager for Fidelity Real Estate Management. An answering machine at the office, which featured an accented woman's voice, was full yesterday.

Ayzenberg said she last saw Bershteyn Tuesday, when she left the office. A male friend who was supposed to have a lunch meeting with her Wednesday eventually reported her missing.

"He came here to check up on her but no one had seen her," she said.

About 3 p.m. that same day, a motorist discovered Bershteyn's body on a narrow dirt road, near a field of crops in rural Mansfield Township, Burlington County. Before she had been identified, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office released a photo of Bershteyn's lifeless body to the media.

Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore said Bershteyn was reported missing about 1 a.m. Thursday, but investigators don't know when she was last seen or how she was killed.

"We don't know if she was abducted or went with them willingly, but it appears the homicide took place in New Jersey," said Vanore. "Burlington County is handling the investigation."

Ayzenberg does not believe Bershteyn would have gone with the suspects willingly.

"She was a feisty woman," she said. "She might have talked back a little bit."

A 16-year-old female and 18-year-old woman, also from the Philadelphia area, were also arrested in Bershteyn's SUV in South Carolina and charged with alcohol and weapons charges, said Joel Bewley, a spokesman for the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Bewley said investigators from his office were en route to South Carolina yesterday and are awaiting to see whether the suspects will waive extradition.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office is asking anyone with information about the homicide, or who may have seen Bershteyn's vehicle, to call 609-265-7113.