Actor Merlin Santana killed in LA shooting

Merlin Santana, who appeared in this year's Eddie Murphy movie Showtime, was shot to death while sitting in a parked car.

The 26-year-old was killed on Saturday in South Los Angeles, police spokeswoman Lucy Diaz says.

He was sitting in the passenger seat shortly after 2:30am when at least one person approached the car and fired.

The driver escaped injury, drove off and flagged down police. Investigators have not determined a motive for the attack.

Santana had an award-winning role on The Steve Harvey Show and one of his earliest parts was as Stanley, the faithful admirer of Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show.

He also had guest appearances on several television shows, including Major Dad, Moesha and Sister, Sister.

He later joined the casts of Getting By and the short-lived James Earl Jones drama Under One Roof.