Jim Herron Zamora, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Examiner news services contributed to this report.

Friday, December 4, 1998

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There were tensions between the two, Bautista said, declining to be more specific.

Investigators first considered the possibility that the same people responsible for a crime spree that included the kidnapping last month of San Francisco resident Alice Tennyson also may have abducted Regina Lovings.

On Nov. 24, two homeless people in San Francisco briefly became suspects when one of them was caught trying to use a credit card belonging to Regina Lovings shortly after police found Lovings' green 1995 Saturn parked in the 500 block of Golden Gate Avenue near Polk Street.

Alameda County coroner's investigators removed the body about 6:30 p.m. They were not immediately able to identify the body conclusively as Lovings because of its condition. But investigators believe it is her, Bautista said. Police refused to say what caused her death.

In addition to the drunken driving arrest, Derrick Lovings has a criminal record, said police, who would not release details.

Investigators said the siblings had been having personal problems but would not elaborate. Friends and neighbors said the two had quarreled over Derrick Lovings' alcohol use as well as Regina Lovings' ownership of the four-unit building.

"They had differences about the property," said Tressie Bullock, a tenant in the apartment building, at Alcatraz Avenue and Essex Street. When their mother died in 1995, she left the building to Regina Lovings, but her brother apparently felt entitled to it, Bullock said.

Bullock and others said Regina Lovings worked hard to take care of her older brother even when he got into trouble, often helping him find a job or a place to live.

Several neighbors said they occasionally heard arguing inside the apartment. But many who knew them both found Thursday's developments hard to believe.

Karen Jones, a cousin of the siblings, said she was shocked by the news of the alleged killing. "I just don't believe it," Jones said. "I don't believe that he could do that. He's very protective of her. He was always so nice and friendly. I know he drinks. I know he's got a temper. But I do not believe that he is capable of killing his sister."

Regina Lovings worked for 12 years as an administrator at Oakland's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where she was popular with employees.

Jackie Sanders, a co-worker of Regina Lovings, said she suspected the brother from the beginning. She said she recently visited the home and Derrick Lovings seemed very nervous. "He was sweating and it was not a warm day," she told KTVU-TV Channel 2.

Several employees said there were spontaneous sobs and tears around Kaiser's Fabiola Building, where Lovings worked, when news of Thursday's developments came over the hospital's intercom late in the afternoon.

A vigil for Regina Lovings had already been planned for later that evening. Instead, the event turned into an impromptu memorial service. Several hundred people - many in tears - gathered there. They sang gospel songs and prayed for her soul.

"I'm devastated and I'm in shock that this could happen to someone so sweet," said co-worker Verlinda Whitley.

"She'll be terribly missed," said Sheila Brown, weeping. "I've lost a friend, a sister, a co-worker, someone that I shared a lot with."

Both brother and sister were avid roller skaters and for the past 15 years were regular participants in the skating sessions on Sundays in Golden Gate Park, according to David Miles, president of the Golden Gate Skate Patrol, a volunteer group of roller skaters and in-line bladers.