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Just In: Double Homicide in Southwest Division
LAPD Southwest: Aric Lexing, 26, and Scott Grant, 40, both black men, were shot to death in a double homicide in the 4000 block of Stevely Drive in lower Baldwin Hills at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, July 20. Both men died at the scene. They were seated in a parked vehicle when they were shot. One of the victims got out of the car with a gunshot wound in his chest, made it about 40 feet and collapsed. The second was lying dead in the passenger seat. Police seek help. (213) 485-2417.
Jul 20, 2007 4:08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Victims, July 9-15
(Each week, the Homicide Report consolidates reports from law enforcement and Coroner's death files to produce a comprehensive list of all homicide victims countywide. The following posts are this week's list.)
Jul 20, 2007 1:24:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Michael Lynn Presley, 19
Presley_michael1Michael Lynn Presley, 19, a black young man, was shot while standing talking to a woman and her mother in front of an apartment building in the 4500 block of West Martin Luther King Boulevard in South Los Angeles at about 9 p.m. July 15. The suspects, two black men, and light-skinned black man or Latino man, all in their twenties, drove up in a black sedan. Two of them got out, shot Presley, then the group fled. Presley's family members tried to take him to a hospital, but made it only a short distance. Paramedics took him the rest of the way to Cedars-Sinai, where he died. His time of death was listed as 10:58 p.m.
Presley was a full-time Cal State Northridge college student, said LAPD Det. Rick Gordon. He had no ties to the criminal street life in which his attackers appeared to be immersed. A $50,000 reward has been approved for information on this case. Call LAPD detectives at (213) 485-2417.
Jul 20, 2007 1:22:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Marvin Pierson, 15
Marvin Pierson, 15, a black youngster, was shot and killed in Ralph Dills Park, 6300 San Julian St. in Paramount, about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15. He died at the scene.
Jul 20, 2007 1:19:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this post
Jorge Santana, 20
Jorge Santana, 20, a Latino man, 12:55 a.m. July 15 at 14615 Astoria Street in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.
He had attended a flyer party, according to LAPD Mission Det. Jim Freund. There were some 25 to 35 people in attendance, mostly in the backyard. Santana was among them. He got in an argument with another party-goer, and the suspect shot him in the torso. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Police had documented Santana's gang membership, but do not know if this had anything to do with the quarrel.
This was the third Mission area homicide in a row that involved parties, and one of two thrown by so called "party crews," Freund said. Party crews a seek locations to throw parties for money. They move them around from location to location, advertise on the Internet, and offer alcohol and "noz" tanks. Mission police deploy patrol cars specifically dedicated to dealing calls involving such parties. If they find minors drinking, or any other illegal activity, they shut the parties down, Freund said.
Most of the other party guests have refused to cooperate with police in the investigation into Jorge Santana's killing. Anyone with information is asked to call Mission police at (818) 838-9800.
Jul 20, 2007 1:16:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Tyrone Taylor, 18
Taylor_tyrone_lamont Tyrone Taylor, an 18-year-old black young man, was shot during a gang fight in a office-complex parking lot behind a Denny's Restaurant at 500 East Carson Plaza Drive at about 3:30 a.m. July 15. Taylor had come with friends to the crowded Denny's, and encountered a rival gang group there. The two groups faced off in the parking lot. There were shots fired from both sides, and a shooting victim on each side, though Taylor was the only one to die. The other black young man who was shot was treated at a hospital for his injuries, and released, said Sheriff's Sgt. Mitch Loman.
Jul 20, 2007 1:01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Christian Delgadillo, 19
Delgadillo_christian_ivan Christian Delgadillo, 19, a Latino young man, was shot at about 1:40 a.m. July 15 in the 6100 block of Cherry Avenue in Long Beach. Long Beach police officers got a "shots fired" call. They found Delgadillo wounded in the torso. He was transported to a hospital where he died. Detectives called it a possible gang-related homicide. Anyone with information should call Long Beach police at (562) 570-7215.
Jul 20, 2007 12:48:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Fahad Ihsan, 19
Centurynormandie
Fahad Ihsan, a 19-year-old young man of Middle-Eastern descent, was killed at a party at 10320 S. Normandie Ave. in Athens about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, July 15.
Sheriff's Homicide Lt. Dave Coleman said the party was very large. An argument broke out. Shots were fired. The man, whose identity has not yet been made public, died at the scene. Investigators worked through the night, took two suspects into custody, both Latino men, and were still in the area working a large crime scene Sunday morning (above, the investigation on Century Boulevard, around the corner from the crime scene).
Athens has been one of the busiest areas for homicide in the county this year. This area, around Normandie and 103rd Street, Century, and Budlong Avenue, has had several killings in recent months, including two within two blocks of where this picture was taken this year.
Jul 20, 2007 12:44:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Shaun McCoy, 22
Shaun McCoy, 22, was one of two young black men shot and killed in a confrontation with Torrance police officers at 2:38 p.m. July 14, in the 2600 block of 231st Street. Also killed was Charlie Wilson, 20, below.
According to a news release issued by Torrance Police Lt. Rod Irvine, the incident began with a report of a possible burglary. Officers were called to the 2600 block of 231st Street, where a resident had reported seeing men go into a neighbor's house, then jump the fence to the backyard. There had been previous burglaries in the area carried out in this way, the release said.
When officers arrived, other neighbors repeated that there were suspects in the backyard and that a red Chevrolet Cavalier connected to the crime had just left. Officers stopped the Cavalier at Elm Avenue and 232nd Street and arrested the driver, Erin Jamahl Madden, 19, of Harbor City.
Other officers surrounded the block where the other suspects were believed to be hiding, and with the help of a Long Beach Police helicopter, searched the area with dogs from the Torrance and Manhattan Beach police departments. They found the suspects in a storage shed.
The release offered no details of what happened next, saying only that, "an officer-involved shooting occurred when they were confronted." Both men suffered gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Torrance police have not released the identities of the officers involved.
Times story
See "Why does the Homicide Report list killings by police?"
Jul 20, 2007 12:40:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this post
Charlie Wilson, 20
Charlie Wilson, 20, a young black man, was killed by Torrance police officers in the same double-killing as Shaun McCoy above. He was struck multiple times by gunfire. His time of death was listed as 2:38 p.m. July 14.
Jul 20, 2007 12:37:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Sergio Martinez, 25
Sergio Martinez, 25, was shot three times at 10106 Burl Ave. in Lennox and died at 4:24 a.m. July 14.
Jul 20, 2007 12:33:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Melvin Estrada, 25
Melvin Estrada, 25, a Latino man, was shot in the 1900 block of West Whittier Avenue in Montebello at 3:21 a.m. July 14 and died almost immediatly. He was in a car with a friend. They had stopped at the curb, and Estrada had gotten out of the car. A Latino man or youth walked up and shot him in the upper torso. Estrada stumbled and fell into the middle of Whittier Boulevard. Anyone with information is asked to call Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at(323) 890-5500.
Jul 20, 2007 12:31:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Kenneth Johnson, 48
Johnson_kenneth Kenneth Johnson, 48, a black man, was killed in the same double homicide that took the life of Theodore Giddens, below. It happened at 42nd Street and Broadway just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard at about 3 a.m. July 13. Johnson lingered at California Hospital before he died at 5:27 a.m. July 14.
A Latino man, Armando Sandoval, 29, was arrested almost immediately after by Newton officers responding to the radio call and faces double murder charges. Sandoval had a gun, which police seized, said LAPD Newton Det. Eric Spear. It is the second time this summer that uniformed LAPD officers have nabbed a double-murder suspect.
Spear said Sandoval had argued with Johnson and Giddens, then pulled out a gun and shot both. Spear said police aren't sure what the argument was about, but various people who frequent this street corner, pictured below right, said they thought Sandoval may have been on the hunt for drugs. Sandoval was a documented gang member. Neither Giddens nor Johnson had criminal records. Johnson's mother declined to be interviewed. A neighbor said he had lived in the vicinity at least 25 years.
Killer_graffiti The Homicide Report has earlier covered the issue of gang intimidation, and how it discourages cooperation with police. This double homicide offered a case in point: After Johnson and Giddens fell bleeding from mortal wounds, gang graffiti on curbs and walls surrounding the murder scene broadcast gloating sentiments. One graffiti message, scrawled under a nearby mural of the Virgen of Guadalupe bragged of the killer's acts, and profanely warned a wider world against doing anything about it.
Jul 20, 2007 12:22:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Theodore Giddens, 44
Giddens_theodoreTheodore Giddens, age 46 according to his family but 44 according to the coroner, a black man, died in the same double homicide as Kenneth Johnson, above, near the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard at about 3 a.m. Friday, July 13. His time of death is listed as 4 a.m. July 13. Neither Giddens nor Johnson had criminal records. 42andbroadway_2
Giddens life was marked indelibly by homicide from the beginning. He is the third person in his immediate family to be murdered. He had a psychological breakdown as a teenager, several years after his father was murdered and a month after he witnessed the homicide death of his older sister, whose throat was slashed by a neighbor. She bled to death before Giddens' eyes, his mother said, and he was never the same. He had been an A student, but after his sister's murder, he talked to himself and lived in board-and-care homes, able only to do odd jobs. Still, he remained connected to his family, remembered everyone's birthdays, and loved playing with his nephews and nieces, his family said. More on this to come.
Jul 20, 2007 12:06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this post
Devian Luevanos, 20
Luevanos_devian_marcus DevianLuevanos_daviensuspect_2 Luevanos, 20, a young black man, was shot in the 700 block of Greenleaf in Compton at about 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, July 11, and died at a local hospital. He was not a gang member, said Sgt. Steve Katz of the sheriff's homicide bureau. He was simply standing outside with friends when a young Latino man walked up and issued a gang challenge of some kind, provoking an argument. The Latino pulled a gun, shot Luevanos and fled. Luevanos died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Investigators have released this composite sketch of the killer and asked for the public's help in identifying and finding him. Anyone with information is asked to call (323) 890-5581 or (323) 890-5578.
Luevanos was shot just a short distance from where Yetunde Price, the older sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was killed in 2003, also on Greenleaf.
Jul 20, 2007 11:44:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Robert Green, 54
Robert Green, 54, a black man, was beaten by three men in a crosswalk in the 5900 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard at 12:45 p.m. Sunday, July 8; he died three days later at California Hospital Medical Center. The time of death was 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 11.
The suspects, also black and described as in their 20s or 30s, pulled up in a white Chevrolet with a license plate containing the sequence 2L. One of them was quite heavy -- perhaps 300 pounds. They kicked and beat Green, then sped off. Anyone with information is asked to call (213) 485-1383.
Jul 20, 2007 11:41:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Eric Lorenzo, 20
Lorenzo_eric_pEric Lorenzo, 20, a young black man, was shot as he was standing in the 2400 block of Lincoln Boulevard in Venice at about 6 p.m. Saturday, July 7, mortally wounded in daylight as hundreds of cars drove by. The two Latino men or youths who shot him were on foot, at least briefly, said Det. Mike DePasquale of LAPD's Pacific Division. Lorenzo was transported to UCLA hospital by ambulance. He was on life support two days before dying July 9. The Los Angeles County Coroner listed his time of death as 9:45 p.m. July 9.
Lorenzo was an LAX employee from South Los Angeles who was giving his mother a ride that day. They had stopped to buy a lottery ticket, said DePasquale--trying to cash in on lucky 7-7-07.
Lorenzo had nothing to do with a gang fight brewing in that neighborhood which stemmed from the killing 16 hours earlier of a 21-year-old Latino young man named David Silva in Santa Monica. Yet police suspect Lorenzo died in retaliation for that earlier murder.
Why? Simply because Lorenzo was young and black and male, and his killers saw him and considered him a close enough approximation for the black gang members they hoped to punish and intimidate. (See the earlier post, "Profiling Murder.") On this list of homicide victims, there are many people like Lorenzo--random victims, usually young black and Latino men, killed not by stray bullets but by the remorseless demographics of homicide. Age, gender, and skin color make them targets.
Police know that possibly scores of people saw this murder happen as they drove down Lincoln Boulevard that evening, and they seek their help to halt a retaliation cycle that has already taken two lives and might take others if it continues. To help them, call Pacific Division detectives. (310) 482-6343.
Jul 20, 2007 11:32:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Jesus Garcia, 21
Jesus Garcia, 21, a Latino young man, was shot multiple times at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 9, in front of 1818 E. 84th St. in Florence, and died at 5 p.m.
He walked out of the house, and got into an argument with a Latino man on the street. There was yelling. The man plled out a gun and shot him, then fled on foot, said Sheriff's Det. Steve Lankford. Garcia was associated with a neighborhood gang, and gang rivalries may have fueled this quarrel. Anyone with information is asked to call Lankford at (323) 890-5500.
(This is the end of this week's comprehensive coroner's list of Los Angeles County homicide victims.)
Jul 20, 2007 11:02:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Hollywood Robbery Killing
Hollywood: Pulod Davlatnazarov, 39, an employee in a liquor store, was shot in the head by a robber at the Limelight Liquor Store in the 1600 block of La Brea Avenue in Hollywood about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, and died at the scene. The store clerk, 69-year-old Vladimir Akkerman, was wounded in the incident, and remains in critical condition. Both victims are Uzbeks.
Police said that a black man walked into the store and asked Akkerman the price of a half gallon of milk, then returned the milk to a refrigerator case and went back to the stock room, where Davlatnazarov was stocking items. He grabbed Davlatnazarov by the back of the shirt and walked him to the front counter at gunpoint. Akkerman pleaded with him, then reached for an alarm button and put his hands up. The suspect shot him, then shot Davlatnazarov.
The suspect is 18 to 22 years old, five-foot-six, 180 pounds, with a short afro and wire-rim perscription glasses. He was wearing a black T-shirt over a white one. Anyone with information is asked to call Dets. Vicki Bynum or Larry Cameron (213) 972-2902.
Jul 20, 2007 8:13:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Other Recent Homicides
Highland Park: Alfredo Ojeda, 18, a Latino youth, was shot during some kind of argument or confrontation in the 5100 block of Stratford Road in Highland Park at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, said LAPD Northeast Division Det. P.J. Morris. Police got a call of a shooting in progress. Friends took Ojeda in a private car to seek medical care. He died. It was unclear with whom he had been arguing.
Carson: Reginald Hayes, a 17-year-old black youth, was shot by a walk-up shooter while sitting in a car talking to friends in the 17500 block of Harwick Court at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 17. His friends took the wounded teenager to the nearest fire station. Paramedics took him to UCLA-Harbor Medical Center, where he died. Sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefund said the killing might be part of a retaliatory cycle--perceived payback for a previous gang killing.
Palmdale: Larry Padilla, 17, a Latino youth, was shot at about 3 a.m. Sunday, July 15, in the 37080 block of 47th Street East in Palmdale. He was taken to Holy Cross hospital, where he died the evening of July 16. Rival groups of black and Latino youths had faced off at a strip mall, and people on both sides got out guns and started shooting. Padilla received a fatal wound. Another young man was struck in the buttocks and is expected to survive.
Jul 20, 2007 8:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Just In: West L.A. Police Shooting Victim Was Not a Man; He Was 14
West Los Angeles: Victor Garcia, 14, a Latino youngster, was shot by Los Angeles police officers on Venice Boulevard near Cattauragus Avenue at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 18.
Police said that two officers heard gunshots and then saw the teenager firing into a crowd of people--youths who belonged to a rival gang, according to police. Two young men were struck and injured. Officers came up and the teenage gunman pointed the gun in their direction. Both officers, Harry Cho, 38, and Dennis Argueta, 36, fired their weapons. Victor was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died. The two young men he injured while firing into the crowd were transported to hospitals and are expected to survive. A gun was recovered.
Jul 19, 2007 5:12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this post
Police Kill Man in West Los Angeles
A man died in an officer-involved shooing in LAPD's West Los Angeles Division last night. More information to come.
Jul 19, 2007 8:49:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this post
The Homicide Report is taking a brief vacation. HR resumes Thursday.
Jul 16, 2007 6:42:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Homicide Charity: "I really do feel hopeless"
Robins_ferroll_2
In a city criticized for self-absorption, you might think that those who toil selflessly would be rewarded.
They aren't.
Consider the Rev. Ferroll Robins, above. She is the head of the nonprofit Loved Ones Victims Services, formerly Loved Ones of Homicide Victims, an organization that provides grief counseling for people whose family members are murdered in the Los Angeles area.
It's not a job for the weak. Ask any police officer, detective, trauma surgeon, or prosecutor in this city: Nothing is harder to deal with than grieving families of the murdered.
Families who scream when notified that their loved one has been killed. Families who remain mute through bewildering proceedings, politely offering thanks from behind blasted eyes. Families who call detectives for years on end asking about languished cases.
Loved Ones Victims Services focuses exclusively on this difficult work, an island for the grieving, an organization that wades into the messy aftermath of homicide when everyone else seems to want to look away. Among charities, Loved Ones is "the only one I know of" with this mandate, said Capt. James Craig of LAPD Southwest Division--the reason its link is on this site.
Fingerprint smudges inside Loved Ones' Culver City offices offer a clue of what such work is like: The paint is sullied by a parade of clients who have quite literally staggered in, bracing themselves on walls to avoid collapsing from grief.
Robins is the force behind Loved Ones. She stepped in in 1993 and eventually took over the organization. She has given much of her adult life to it, scrambling for funding year after year, always on the brink of closing.
For years, the group has struggled to get so much as a single, tiny, community-development block grant from the city of Los Angeles. The city freely doles out such grants to scores of arts organizations and service groups of all stripes. But not for homicide. Loved Ones went at least three years without a city grant before its recent move to Culver City.
Few in private charities seemed to hear the plea either. Foundation money was so hard to come by that Robins eventually took the word "homicide" out of the name of the organization. It seemed to creep people out. Robins would call organizations about grants, and hear an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line when she started talking about it.
Read on »
Jul 15, 2007 11:59:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this post
Dovon Harris, one month gone by
Harris_davon_2Last month, HR reported on Dovon Harris, 16, killed on 114th Street just east of Central Avenue in LAPD's Southeast Division in Watts by a boy about his own age, who was later arrested. Dovon was shot and killed June 15 but was kept on life support for two days so his parents could donate six of his organs.
Barbara Pritchett, his mother, described her life one month after her son's slaying. Despite financial difficulty, she has had to quit her job as a home healthcare worker, she said. Her employers offered no bereavement leave, and "I would just cry all day," she said.
"It's not day to day, it's moment to moment," she said. "You just don't know how you are going to feel from one moment to the next. I wouldn't wish this on my worst-est enemy. You wake up with this pain. You go to bed with this pain."
A service in memory of Dovon is scheduled for 11 a.m. July 22 at Glory Bound Missionary Baptist Church at 1522 S. Long Beach Blvd. in Compton. The public is welcome.
see "Dovon Harris," "Ive Got Expectations for You," and "Watts United."
Just In: Double Homicide in Southwest Division
LAPD Southwest: Aric Lexing, 26, and Scott Grant, 40, both black men, were shot to death in a double homicide in the 4000 block of Stevely Drive in lower Baldwin Hills at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, July 20. Both men died at the scene. They were seated in a parked vehicle when they were shot. One of the victims got out of the car with a gunshot wound in his chest, made it about 40 feet and collapsed. The second was lying dead in the passenger seat. Police seek help. (213) 485-2417.
Jul 20, 2007 4:08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Victims, July 9-15
(Each week, the Homicide Report consolidates reports from law enforcement and Coroner's death files to produce a comprehensive list of all homicide victims countywide. The following posts are this week's list.)
Jul 20, 2007 1:24:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Michael Lynn Presley, 19
Presley_michael1Michael Lynn Presley, 19, a black young man, was shot while standing talking to a woman and her mother in front of an apartment building in the 4500 block of West Martin Luther King Boulevard in South Los Angeles at about 9 p.m. July 15. The suspects, two black men, and light-skinned black man or Latino man, all in their twenties, drove up in a black sedan. Two of them got out, shot Presley, then the group fled. Presley's family members tried to take him to a hospital, but made it only a short distance. Paramedics took him the rest of the way to Cedars-Sinai, where he died. His time of death was listed as 10:58 p.m.
Presley was a full-time Cal State Northridge college student, said LAPD Det. Rick Gordon. He had no ties to the criminal street life in which his attackers appeared to be immersed. A $50,000 reward has been approved for information on this case. Call LAPD detectives at (213) 485-2417.
Jul 20, 2007 1:22:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Marvin Pierson, 15
Marvin Pierson, 15, a black youngster, was shot and killed in Ralph Dills Park, 6300 San Julian St. in Paramount, about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15. He died at the scene.
Jul 20, 2007 1:19:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this post
Jorge Santana, 20
Jorge Santana, 20, a Latino man, 12:55 a.m. July 15 at 14615 Astoria Street in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.
He had attended a flyer party, according to LAPD Mission Det. Jim Freund. There were some 25 to 35 people in attendance, mostly in the backyard. Santana was among them. He got in an argument with another party-goer, and the suspect shot him in the torso. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Police had documented Santana's gang membership, but do not know if this had anything to do with the quarrel.
This was the third Mission area homicide in a row that involved parties, and one of two thrown by so called "party crews," Freund said. Party crews a seek locations to throw parties for money. They move them around from location to location, advertise on the Internet, and offer alcohol and "noz" tanks. Mission police deploy patrol cars specifically dedicated to dealing calls involving such parties. If they find minors drinking, or any other illegal activity, they shut the parties down, Freund said.
Most of the other party guests have refused to cooperate with police in the investigation into Jorge Santana's killing. Anyone with information is asked to call Mission police at (818) 838-9800.
Jul 20, 2007 1:16:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Tyrone Taylor, 18
Taylor_tyrone_lamont Tyrone Taylor, an 18-year-old black young man, was shot during a gang fight in a office-complex parking lot behind a Denny's Restaurant at 500 East Carson Plaza Drive at about 3:30 a.m. July 15. Taylor had come with friends to the crowded Denny's, and encountered a rival gang group there. The two groups faced off in the parking lot. There were shots fired from both sides, and a shooting victim on each side, though Taylor was the only one to die. The other black young man who was shot was treated at a hospital for his injuries, and released, said Sheriff's Sgt. Mitch Loman.
Jul 20, 2007 1:01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Christian Delgadillo, 19
Delgadillo_christian_ivan Christian Delgadillo, 19, a Latino young man, was shot at about 1:40 a.m. July 15 in the 6100 block of Cherry Avenue in Long Beach. Long Beach police officers got a "shots fired" call. They found Delgadillo wounded in the torso. He was transported to a hospital where he died. Detectives called it a possible gang-related homicide. Anyone with information should call Long Beach police at (562) 570-7215.
Jul 20, 2007 12:48:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Fahad Ihsan, 19
Centurynormandie
Fahad Ihsan, a 19-year-old young man of Middle-Eastern descent, was killed at a party at 10320 S. Normandie Ave. in Athens about 12:45 a.m. Sunday, July 15.
Sheriff's Homicide Lt. Dave Coleman said the party was very large. An argument broke out. Shots were fired. The man, whose identity has not yet been made public, died at the scene. Investigators worked through the night, took two suspects into custody, both Latino men, and were still in the area working a large crime scene Sunday morning (above, the investigation on Century Boulevard, around the corner from the crime scene).
Athens has been one of the busiest areas for homicide in the county this year. This area, around Normandie and 103rd Street, Century, and Budlong Avenue, has had several killings in recent months, including two within two blocks of where this picture was taken this year.
Jul 20, 2007 12:44:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Shaun McCoy, 22
Shaun McCoy, 22, was one of two young black men shot and killed in a confrontation with Torrance police officers at 2:38 p.m. July 14, in the 2600 block of 231st Street. Also killed was Charlie Wilson, 20, below.
According to a news release issued by Torrance Police Lt. Rod Irvine, the incident began with a report of a possible burglary. Officers were called to the 2600 block of 231st Street, where a resident had reported seeing men go into a neighbor's house, then jump the fence to the backyard. There had been previous burglaries in the area carried out in this way, the release said.
When officers arrived, other neighbors repeated that there were suspects in the backyard and that a red Chevrolet Cavalier connected to the crime had just left. Officers stopped the Cavalier at Elm Avenue and 232nd Street and arrested the driver, Erin Jamahl Madden, 19, of Harbor City.
Other officers surrounded the block where the other suspects were believed to be hiding, and with the help of a Long Beach Police helicopter, searched the area with dogs from the Torrance and Manhattan Beach police departments. They found the suspects in a storage shed.
The release offered no details of what happened next, saying only that, "an officer-involved shooting occurred when they were confronted." Both men suffered gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Torrance police have not released the identities of the officers involved.
Times story
See "Why does the Homicide Report list killings by police?"
Jul 20, 2007 12:40:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this post
Charlie Wilson, 20
Charlie Wilson, 20, a young black man, was killed by Torrance police officers in the same double-killing as Shaun McCoy above. He was struck multiple times by gunfire. His time of death was listed as 2:38 p.m. July 14.
Jul 20, 2007 12:37:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Sergio Martinez, 25
Sergio Martinez, 25, was shot three times at 10106 Burl Ave. in Lennox and died at 4:24 a.m. July 14.
Jul 20, 2007 12:33:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Melvin Estrada, 25
Melvin Estrada, 25, a Latino man, was shot in the 1900 block of West Whittier Avenue in Montebello at 3:21 a.m. July 14 and died almost immediatly. He was in a car with a friend. They had stopped at the curb, and Estrada had gotten out of the car. A Latino man or youth walked up and shot him in the upper torso. Estrada stumbled and fell into the middle of Whittier Boulevard. Anyone with information is asked to call Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at(323) 890-5500.
Jul 20, 2007 12:31:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Kenneth Johnson, 48
Johnson_kenneth Kenneth Johnson, 48, a black man, was killed in the same double homicide that took the life of Theodore Giddens, below. It happened at 42nd Street and Broadway just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard at about 3 a.m. July 13. Johnson lingered at California Hospital before he died at 5:27 a.m. July 14.
A Latino man, Armando Sandoval, 29, was arrested almost immediately after by Newton officers responding to the radio call and faces double murder charges. Sandoval had a gun, which police seized, said LAPD Newton Det. Eric Spear. It is the second time this summer that uniformed LAPD officers have nabbed a double-murder suspect.
Spear said Sandoval had argued with Johnson and Giddens, then pulled out a gun and shot both. Spear said police aren't sure what the argument was about, but various people who frequent this street corner, pictured below right, said they thought Sandoval may have been on the hunt for drugs. Sandoval was a documented gang member. Neither Giddens nor Johnson had criminal records. Johnson's mother declined to be interviewed. A neighbor said he had lived in the vicinity at least 25 years.
Killer_graffiti The Homicide Report has earlier covered the issue of gang intimidation, and how it discourages cooperation with police. This double homicide offered a case in point: After Johnson and Giddens fell bleeding from mortal wounds, gang graffiti on curbs and walls surrounding the murder scene broadcast gloating sentiments. One graffiti message, scrawled under a nearby mural of the Virgen of Guadalupe bragged of the killer's acts, and profanely warned a wider world against doing anything about it.
Jul 20, 2007 12:22:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Theodore Giddens, 44
Giddens_theodoreTheodore Giddens, age 46 according to his family but 44 according to the coroner, a black man, died in the same double homicide as Kenneth Johnson, above, near the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway just south of Martin Luther King Boulevard at about 3 a.m. Friday, July 13. His time of death is listed as 4 a.m. July 13. Neither Giddens nor Johnson had criminal records. 42andbroadway_2
Giddens life was marked indelibly by homicide from the beginning. He is the third person in his immediate family to be murdered. He had a psychological breakdown as a teenager, several years after his father was murdered and a month after he witnessed the homicide death of his older sister, whose throat was slashed by a neighbor. She bled to death before Giddens' eyes, his mother said, and he was never the same. He had been an A student, but after his sister's murder, he talked to himself and lived in board-and-care homes, able only to do odd jobs. Still, he remained connected to his family, remembered everyone's birthdays, and loved playing with his nephews and nieces, his family said. More on this to come.
Jul 20, 2007 12:06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this post
Devian Luevanos, 20
Luevanos_devian_marcus DevianLuevanos_daviensuspect_2 Luevanos, 20, a young black man, was shot in the 700 block of Greenleaf in Compton at about 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, July 11, and died at a local hospital. He was not a gang member, said Sgt. Steve Katz of the sheriff's homicide bureau. He was simply standing outside with friends when a young Latino man walked up and issued a gang challenge of some kind, provoking an argument. The Latino pulled a gun, shot Luevanos and fled. Luevanos died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Investigators have released this composite sketch of the killer and asked for the public's help in identifying and finding him. Anyone with information is asked to call (323) 890-5581 or (323) 890-5578.
Luevanos was shot just a short distance from where Yetunde Price, the older sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was killed in 2003, also on Greenleaf.
Jul 20, 2007 11:44:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Robert Green, 54
Robert Green, 54, a black man, was beaten by three men in a crosswalk in the 5900 block of South Crenshaw Boulevard at 12:45 p.m. Sunday, July 8; he died three days later at California Hospital Medical Center. The time of death was 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 11.
The suspects, also black and described as in their 20s or 30s, pulled up in a white Chevrolet with a license plate containing the sequence 2L. One of them was quite heavy -- perhaps 300 pounds. They kicked and beat Green, then sped off. Anyone with information is asked to call (213) 485-1383.
Jul 20, 2007 11:41:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Eric Lorenzo, 20
Lorenzo_eric_pEric Lorenzo, 20, a young black man, was shot as he was standing in the 2400 block of Lincoln Boulevard in Venice at about 6 p.m. Saturday, July 7, mortally wounded in daylight as hundreds of cars drove by. The two Latino men or youths who shot him were on foot, at least briefly, said Det. Mike DePasquale of LAPD's Pacific Division. Lorenzo was transported to UCLA hospital by ambulance. He was on life support two days before dying July 9. The Los Angeles County Coroner listed his time of death as 9:45 p.m. July 9.
Lorenzo was an LAX employee from South Los Angeles who was giving his mother a ride that day. They had stopped to buy a lottery ticket, said DePasquale--trying to cash in on lucky 7-7-07.
Lorenzo had nothing to do with a gang fight brewing in that neighborhood which stemmed from the killing 16 hours earlier of a 21-year-old Latino young man named David Silva in Santa Monica. Yet police suspect Lorenzo died in retaliation for that earlier murder.
Why? Simply because Lorenzo was young and black and male, and his killers saw him and considered him a close enough approximation for the black gang members they hoped to punish and intimidate. (See the earlier post, "Profiling Murder.") On this list of homicide victims, there are many people like Lorenzo--random victims, usually young black and Latino men, killed not by stray bullets but by the remorseless demographics of homicide. Age, gender, and skin color make them targets.
Police know that possibly scores of people saw this murder happen as they drove down Lincoln Boulevard that evening, and they seek their help to halt a retaliation cycle that has already taken two lives and might take others if it continues. To help them, call Pacific Division detectives. (310) 482-6343.
Jul 20, 2007 11:32:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Jesus Garcia, 21
Jesus Garcia, 21, a Latino young man, was shot multiple times at about 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 9, in front of 1818 E. 84th St. in Florence, and died at 5 p.m.
He walked out of the house, and got into an argument with a Latino man on the street. There was yelling. The man plled out a gun and shot him, then fled on foot, said Sheriff's Det. Steve Lankford. Garcia was associated with a neighborhood gang, and gang rivalries may have fueled this quarrel. Anyone with information is asked to call Lankford at (323) 890-5500.
(This is the end of this week's comprehensive coroner's list of Los Angeles County homicide victims.)
Jul 20, 2007 11:02:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Hollywood Robbery Killing
Hollywood: Pulod Davlatnazarov, 39, an employee in a liquor store, was shot in the head by a robber at the Limelight Liquor Store in the 1600 block of La Brea Avenue in Hollywood about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, and died at the scene. The store clerk, 69-year-old Vladimir Akkerman, was wounded in the incident, and remains in critical condition. Both victims are Uzbeks.
Police said that a black man walked into the store and asked Akkerman the price of a half gallon of milk, then returned the milk to a refrigerator case and went back to the stock room, where Davlatnazarov was stocking items. He grabbed Davlatnazarov by the back of the shirt and walked him to the front counter at gunpoint. Akkerman pleaded with him, then reached for an alarm button and put his hands up. The suspect shot him, then shot Davlatnazarov.
The suspect is 18 to 22 years old, five-foot-six, 180 pounds, with a short afro and wire-rim perscription glasses. He was wearing a black T-shirt over a white one. Anyone with information is asked to call Dets. Vicki Bynum or Larry Cameron (213) 972-2902.
Jul 20, 2007 8:13:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Other Recent Homicides
Highland Park: Alfredo Ojeda, 18, a Latino youth, was shot during some kind of argument or confrontation in the 5100 block of Stratford Road in Highland Park at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, said LAPD Northeast Division Det. P.J. Morris. Police got a call of a shooting in progress. Friends took Ojeda in a private car to seek medical care. He died. It was unclear with whom he had been arguing.
Carson: Reginald Hayes, a 17-year-old black youth, was shot by a walk-up shooter while sitting in a car talking to friends in the 17500 block of Harwick Court at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 17. His friends took the wounded teenager to the nearest fire station. Paramedics took him to UCLA-Harbor Medical Center, where he died. Sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefund said the killing might be part of a retaliatory cycle--perceived payback for a previous gang killing.
Palmdale: Larry Padilla, 17, a Latino youth, was shot at about 3 a.m. Sunday, July 15, in the 37080 block of 47th Street East in Palmdale. He was taken to Holy Cross hospital, where he died the evening of July 16. Rival groups of black and Latino youths had faced off at a strip mall, and people on both sides got out guns and started shooting. Padilla received a fatal wound. Another young man was struck in the buttocks and is expected to survive.
Jul 20, 2007 8:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this post
Just In: West L.A. Police Shooting Victim Was Not a Man; He Was 14
West Los Angeles: Victor Garcia, 14, a Latino youngster, was shot by Los Angeles police officers on Venice Boulevard near Cattauragus Avenue at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 18.
Police said that two officers heard gunshots and then saw the teenager firing into a crowd of people--youths who belonged to a rival gang, according to police. Two young men were struck and injured. Officers came up and the teenage gunman pointed the gun in their direction. Both officers, Harry Cho, 38, and Dennis Argueta, 36, fired their weapons. Victor was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died. The two young men he injured while firing into the crowd were transported to hospitals and are expected to survive. A gun was recovered.
Jul 19, 2007 5:12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this post
Police Kill Man in West Los Angeles
A man died in an officer-involved shooing in LAPD's West Los Angeles Division last night. More information to come.
Jul 19, 2007 8:49:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this post
The Homicide Report is taking a brief vacation. HR resumes Thursday.
Jul 16, 2007 6:42:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this post
Homicide Charity: "I really do feel hopeless"
Robins_ferroll_2
In a city criticized for self-absorption, you might think that those who toil selflessly would be rewarded.
They aren't.
Consider the Rev. Ferroll Robins, above. She is the head of the nonprofit Loved Ones Victims Services, formerly Loved Ones of Homicide Victims, an organization that provides grief counseling for people whose family members are murdered in the Los Angeles area.
It's not a job for the weak. Ask any police officer, detective, trauma surgeon, or prosecutor in this city: Nothing is harder to deal with than grieving families of the murdered.
Families who scream when notified that their loved one has been killed. Families who remain mute through bewildering proceedings, politely offering thanks from behind blasted eyes. Families who call detectives for years on end asking about languished cases.
Loved Ones Victims Services focuses exclusively on this difficult work, an island for the grieving, an organization that wades into the messy aftermath of homicide when everyone else seems to want to look away. Among charities, Loved Ones is "the only one I know of" with this mandate, said Capt. James Craig of LAPD Southwest Division--the reason its link is on this site.
Fingerprint smudges inside Loved Ones' Culver City offices offer a clue of what such work is like: The paint is sullied by a parade of clients who have quite literally staggered in, bracing themselves on walls to avoid collapsing from grief.
Robins is the force behind Loved Ones. She stepped in in 1993 and eventually took over the organization. She has given much of her adult life to it, scrambling for funding year after year, always on the brink of closing.
For years, the group has struggled to get so much as a single, tiny, community-development block grant from the city of Los Angeles. The city freely doles out such grants to scores of arts organizations and service groups of all stripes. But not for homicide. Loved Ones went at least three years without a city grant before its recent move to Culver City.
Few in private charities seemed to hear the plea either. Foundation money was so hard to come by that Robins eventually took the word "homicide" out of the name of the organization. It seemed to creep people out. Robins would call organizations about grants, and hear an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line when she started talking about it.
Read on »
Jul 15, 2007 11:59:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this post
Dovon Harris, one month gone by
Harris_davon_2Last month, HR reported on Dovon Harris, 16, killed on 114th Street just east of Central Avenue in LAPD's Southeast Division in Watts by a boy about his own age, who was later arrested. Dovon was shot and killed June 15 but was kept on life support for two days so his parents could donate six of his organs.
Barbara Pritchett, his mother, described her life one month after her son's slaying. Despite financial difficulty, she has had to quit her job as a home healthcare worker, she said. Her employers offered no bereavement leave, and "I would just cry all day," she said.
"It's not day to day, it's moment to moment," she said. "You just don't know how you are going to feel from one moment to the next. I wouldn't wish this on my worst-est enemy. You wake up with this pain. You go to bed with this pain."
A service in memory of Dovon is scheduled for 11 a.m. July 22 at Glory Bound Missionary Baptist Church at 1522 S. Long Beach Blvd. in Compton. The public is welcome.
see "Dovon Harris," "Ive Got Expectations for You," and "Watts United."
