2 sought in killing of LA man near Central Park

Other cameras captured the car fleeing through the Midtown Tunnel to Queens, where it was found, unoccupied and parked, by police using high-tech license plate readers.

Police were still examining three phones carried by Woodard when he flew to New York on Sunday for reasons that are unclear. Two were found on his body and one was in luggage he left at his hotel.

The 31-year-old Woodard has been described variously as a promoter, would-be lawyer and family man. He also had an extensive arrest record, leading investigators to theorize he could have been involved in a dispute over drugs or money.

He had been due back in court Jan. 22 following his April arrest by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in West Hollywood on a felony cocaine possession charge. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

Woodard attended the Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa for two semesters in the fall of 2010 and the spring of 2011.

He had arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 5 p.m. Sunday, checked into a hotel on Columbus Circle, near where he was shot, and had dinner with a friend who lives in Queens, police said.

On Monday, Woodard checked out of the hotel but left his bags, telling the staff, "I'll be back for my luggage."