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 LAPD Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a news conference Thursday in the 77th Street police station to tout this year's lower violent-crime rate. Five-year-old Cheyenne, right, the daughter of murder victim Ashley Cheval, stood fidgeting as the dignitaries talked. Cheyenne's family had been invited to the news conference to help draw attention to the unsolved murder problem.
When it was over, television crews began packing up their cameras. Cheyenne broke away from her family, walked up to a reporter, and pointed to the poster of her mother, displayed on one side of the podium. "That's my mommy," Cheyenne said. Then she insisted on writing her mother's name in a reporter's notebook. She wrote A-S-H-L-E-Y.
Her mother, Ashley Cheval, 23, was killed Aug. 25, 2006 in the 4300 block of Western Avenue at 9:45 a.m. while sitting in a car. The suspects are three black men, who fled in a gold late-model Lincoln Mercury. Police are looking for any information from anyone on this case. Call (213) 485-1383.
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Continue reading "Small Advocate" »
Click here for Quick's map.
Left, this is what the map
looked like in mid-March
when Quick started.
Right, this is what the map
looks like now.
Michael Quick, a professor at USC, makes these maps for readers of the Homicide Report. The map shows all the homicides in the Los Angeles County since Jan. 1, 2007. Tan markers indicate homicides from the past week. Background: A Reader Makes a Map
(This is the official weekly list using updated information from the Los Angeles County coroner's files. Cases covered earlier in the week are cataloged here in more detail. The list is in chronological order beginning with the most recent killings. There are 16 victims on the list this week, slightly less than the year-to-date average. The week started slowly, but 10 deaths over Memorial Day weekend expanded the tally.)
Carnell Dayvione Ardoine, 19, a young black man, was found in an alley after having been shot in the mouth at 627 E. 81st St. in LAPD's 77th Street Division. His time of death was listed as 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 29.
Visaal Tulsi, a 22-year-old man of Pacific Islander descent, was shot and killed in the 700 block of S. Barranca Avenue in West Covina, and died at 11:45 p.m. Monday, May 28.
West Covina police said this killing began with an argument of some kind in the parking lot of B.J.'s Brewery at the intersection of Barranca and the San Bernardino Freeway. The combatants got in their cars and "chased each other around," according to Lt. Pete Mena. Tulsi was riding in the front passenger seat with two friends, both of them men in their 20s. As they sped away down Barranca, their adversaries fired shots into their car, hitting Tulsi. His friend continued driving another mile down Barranca. The assailants continued chasing them and fired again, this time hitting the driver, who crashed through a chain-link fence onto a golf course. West Covina police responding to a call of a traffic accident found the driver wounded and Tulsi already dead in the front seat. It was West Covina's first murder investigation of the year.
The driver underwent surgery and is expected to survive. The third man in the car was not hit. As is common in L.A. County shooting incidents, neither surviving witness has given police much information, and investigators are seeking tips from anyone who might have seen the car-to-car shooting, or the confrontation at B.J.'s. Call (626) 939-8557.
Jamar Witherspoon, 18, a black young man, was shot by a LAPD Southeast Division gang officer Jeff Bright, 35, near the intersection of 89th and Main Streets in South Los Angeles and died at 11:46 p.m. Monday, May 28.
The shooting happened just east of the Harbor Freeway south of Manchester Boulevard at about 11:15 p.m. According to police, the officers had been called to a shooting at 94th and Main streets. While they were investigating, a second shooting call came from near 89th and Main. The officers went there and spotted Witherspoon riding on the handlebars of a small motorcycle driven by another man. Police said Witherspoon ran when he saw the officers and jumped a fence. He ran toward Bright, who, with his partner, had come to assist the other officers. Police said Bright saw that Witherspoon had a .45 caliber handgun in his waistband, and shot him. He was transported to California Hospital where he died, they said. The handgun was recovered.
Why does the Homicide Report list killings by police?
Mario Martinez, 18, a young Latino man, was shot in the right side of his chest at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Western Avenue, and died at 6:31 p.m. Monday, May 28.
Continue reading "Mario Martinez, 18" »
Antonio Magana, 27, a Latino man, was shot in a gang-related drive-by shooting at 9910 Telfair Ave. in Pacoima, and died at 11:20 a.m. Monday, May 28. He was sitting in a parked car. The suspects, two Latinos, drove up and fired on him.
 Ana Artiga, 27, a Latina woman, was shot multiple times through the head at 501 E. 23rd Street in South-Central Los Angeles at about 4 p.m., and died at 5:37 p.m. Sunday, May 27. She was standing in front of a market when this drive-by occurred. Police had a record that indicated she belonged to a local gang. She died at California Hospital.
Update: LAPD Newton Dets. Tommy Thompson and Dan Gersna have cleared this case. Two suspects, both Latino young men with documented gang membership, have been arrested and charged with murder.
Michael Rosas, 25, a Latino man, was shot at 11412 Maxine St. in Whittier and died at 10:47 p.m. Sunday, May 27. He was found dead in the street.
Aaron Romero, 19, a young Latino man, was shot at 1300 E. 49th Street in South-Central Los Angeles and died at 1:35 p.m. Sunday, May 27. He was standing outside with another man when a suspect walked up and shot them both. His companion survived, but Romero died at a hospital.
Update: LAPD Newton detectives have cleared this case. The suspect, 33-year-old Derrice Potter, a black man, was arrested after a police foot pursuit in LAPD's Southwest Division on Sunday, June 17. Authorities allege that Potter, whose nickname is "Kojak," killed Romero in a quarrel over a stolen bicycle that pitted members of a black gang against a local Latino tagger group. Romero's killing was preceded by a fistfight, they said.
 Jeremy Howard, 20, a black man, was shot in the back in the 6600 block of Myrrh Street in Paramount, and died at 9:18 p.m. Saturday, May 26.
He had attended a prom or pre-graduation party thrown by two sisters in the 6600 block of Myrrh Street in Paramount on Saturday evening at about 8 p.m. Howard had quarreled with some people at the party, and opted to walk away. He was leaving when the suspects, described as 18- to 20-year-old black young men, got in their car and drove past him as he moved toward his car, firing multiple shots at him. He was struck and killed. The assailants fled in what may have been an older-style Honda. Anyone with any tips or information is asked to call investigators at (323) 890-5500.
Quanisha Pitts, 17, a young black woman, was struck in the back and neck by gunfire in the 1200 block of South Wadsworth Avenue in Compton. Her time of death at a hospital was listed as 12:54 a.m. Saturday, May 26.
She had gone a movie that night in Lakewood with a young man, 21. Before he took her back to her parents, he had brought her by his own parents' house in Compton for a brief visit. She had to be home by midnight, and they were running a little late. The young man was in a hurry to get Quanisha home as soon as possible, and they got back into the car.
They pulled out and passed some young men standing on the street--gang members, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Det. Todd Anderson. As the group receded in the rearview mirror, the back windshield shattered. One of the people on the street had fired a gun--a bullet out of the dark.
It struck Quanisha, leaving her severely wounded. Her date kept driving, speeding away to safety with Quanisha bleeding next to him. He took two turns, pulled into the front yard of her parents' home nearby, and frantically leaned on the horn. Her family came running out, and saw her there. "A really good girl. A hard-working guy," Anderson said of the pair. "He is just completely torn up by this."
Daily Breeze
Armando Espericueta, 22, a Latino man, was struck by gunfire at 6912 Purdy Ave. in Bell Gardens, and died at 1:27 a.m. Saturday, May 26.
 Wayne McKinney, 24, a black man, was shot multiple times near the intersection of Vermont and Slauson avenues in L.A., and died at 9:44 p.m. Friday, May 25. He was in a car with a friend when a black man or youth on the sidewalk called out to them a gang challenge, then fired, striking McKinney. His companion drove away, and stopped a short distance away.
Joaquin Aguilar, 46, a Latino man, was shot multiple times at 8508 S. San Pedro St. in South-Central and died at 10:54 p.m. Thursday, May 24. Police have little on this case. Aguilar died at the scene.
 Paul Martinez, 22, a Latino man, was stabbed at 257 E. Ave. Q-10 in Palmdale, and died at a hospital at 2:45 a.m. Thursday, May 24. Martinez was walking through an empty field in the dead of night with two friends when two other men attacked them. One of the attackers had a knife and stabbed Martinez. The attackers are believed to be Latino, investigators said.
Jose Hernandez, 51, suffered possible blunt-force trauma to the face and head. His beaten and bloodied body was found in a car on the Pomona Freeway near the Crossroads Parkway exit in Industry by California Highway Patrol officers. His time of death was listed as 1:11 a.m. Wednesday, May 23.
Hyo Lim, a 51-year-old man of Korean descent, was shot in the head and chest by Sae Kyoon Na, 47, another man, who police say shot himself immediately after in this Koreatown murder-suicide case.
Police say Na walked into Suhrabal, Lim's popular Korean barbeque restaurant at the corner of First Street and Western Avenue at about 4:50 p.m., argued with Lim, shot him in the head, then shot himself. Police found both Lim and Na inside the restaurant, dead of gunshot wounds to the head. They also found a handgun. Authorities said there was a quarrel between the two men: Na had accused Lim of having an affair with his wife. Lim's time of death was listed as 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 22.
(This is the end of this week's list.)
(This case has not yet been included in the list above.)
South-Central Los Angeles: A Latina woman in her 40s was killed in a bicycle ride-by shooting in the 6300 block of South Main Street just east of the Harbor Freeway near the Gage exit at 8:21 p.m. Tuesday, May 29. The suspect fired several rounds and then fled on a bicycle. She died at the scene. The homicide in LAPD Newton Division, which straddles Central Avenue as it runs south from the Garment District, was the third since last week. More to come.
(34-year-old Carl Dixon was killed in the May 9 Florence shooting that also left three other people wounded. Last week, The Homicide Report told this story from the perspective one survivor, Sidney McFarland.
Today, the story is told from the perspective of a second victim, Bernard McGee, 37, McFarland's cousin, who suffered serious wounds to the back and both thighs. The Latino suspects in this case are still at large. Above, McGee looks away as neighbor Latisha Thomas changes the dressing on a wound. Photo by Brian VanderBrug/LAT)
It was still light when Bernard McGee greeted Carl Dixon in front of a house in the 1600 block of East 81st Street. McGee was sitting on the porch. With him was his common-law wife, their 3-month-old baby boy Ejuan, and McGee's cousin, Sidney McFarland.
McGee barely had time to exchange greetings with Dixon. As soon as Dixon sat, there was an explosion of gunfire. "Boom, pac, pac, pac, boom, boom, boom!" McGee said, recalling the sound. A group of people were shooting from behind a wall. McGee looked at Dixon. He saw the red fabric of Dixon's shirt whip, as if a strong breeze were yanking it. Dixon was being shot in the torso.
Then McGee felt two little sharp jabs in his legs. Quick piercings. One in each thigh. He felt no pain. But he had a clear sensation of two tiny objects plunging into his flesh. He knew had been hit. Instinct, or adrenalin, put him in motion. He was running. "I had no choice," he said. "My legs got up and went."
Continue reading "What it's like to be shot, Part II" »
 Click anywhere on this text to see this week's map pinpointing homicides in Los Angeles, once again, by Michael Quick. Tan markers indicate newer homicides. Click on each for details. Left, the killing of Carl Pickering in Watts is pinpointed. Some computers may need time to load.
Note the emerging dark cloud of homicides around Athens just north of the 105 Freeway and west of 110. This unincorporated area falls in sheriff's territory. It has seen one of the regions most significant homicide spikes this year, even as homicide numbers are decreasing in other areas, such as downtown Los Angeles.
Michael Quick is a USC professor and a reader of The Homicide Report who constructs this map for other readers of the Web page each week. Read More.
(LaQuita Suggs' mother Ella Suggs was stabbed to death at a bus stop April 29. For previous posts, click here.)
It seems that time does not skip a beat. You have to try to stay a float or you will become overwhelmed by the issues of life. I am still struggling with making it day by day but I am learning how to focus on right now instead of looking too far ahead. Grief is a terrible thing, but if you can keep living strenght is bound to emerge. I would still like to submit a biography about my Mom just to assist me with talking publicly aobut how wonderful she was.
Continue reading "From LaQuita Suggs" »
Koreatown: Hyo Jin Lim, a 51-year-old man of Korean descent, was shot and killed by Sae Kyoon Na, 47. Na, police say, walked into Suhrabal, Lim's popular Korean barbeque restaurant at the corner of First Street and Western Avenue at about 4:50 p.m., argued with Lim, shot him in the head, then shot himself. Police found both Lim and Na inside the restaurant, dead of gunshot wounds to the head. They also found a handgun. Authorities said there was a quarrel between the two men: Na had accused Lim of having an affair with his wife.
L.A. Times story:
 Updating a case reported on the first list published by The Homicide Report, Los Angeles police today said that a man wanted for the Jan. 20 killing of 22-year-old Armando Vera in the San Fernando Valley is dead. They said he shot himself in a standoff with special-enforcement deputies in Long Beach earlier this month.
See previous post on victim Vera
Continue reading "Wanted man reportedly shot himself" »
(The posts that follow are the coroner's official weekly list. Homicides covered earlier in the week are updated here, with information from medical examiners added. The list is in chronological order. It is short this week: 13 people. A baby's death is still under investigation, and may or may not be a homicide.)
 Miguel Sanchez, 20, a Latino young man, was killed in a double homicide with his brother Francisco at 6308 Eastern Ave. in Bell Gardens. He died at 2:24 p.m. Sunday, May 20.
The brothers were part of a group in a car. One was the driver. A suspect walked up on foot and pointed a gun at one of the passengers. The brother who was driving flung the car into reverse and tried to escape, but gunfire filled the car, and both brothers were hit. Both were transported for medical care. Francisco died at 10:45 a.m. May 20, and Miguel's death came several hours later.
Continue reading "Miguel Sanchez, 20" »
 Francisco Sanchez, 21, a Latino man, was killed in the same double homicide that took the life of his younger brother, above, at 6308 Eastern Ave. He died at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, May 20.
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Raymond Garcia, 16, a Latino youth, was shot in the head at 1153 Colony Drive in Pomona, and died at 1:53 a.m. Sunday, May 20.
Andrew Santistevan, 20, a Latino young man, was shot dead and three other people were left in critical condition after a shooting at a party at 9632 Rex Road in Pico Rivera shortly after midnight Saturday, May 20. He died at the scene at 12:42 a.m.
The other victims, two young Latino men and a Latina woman in her early 20s, were at two local hospitals with trauma centers. Sheriff's investigators said members of rival gangs found themselves at a party together, and a shootout erupted.
 Ronald Ball, 60, a black man, was shot by LAPD Newton narcotics officers who were in plain clothes and driving a plain van, during a confrontation near the intersection of 32nd Street and Broadway just south of downtown Los Angeles. He died at 8:52 a.m. Saturday, May 19.
The police said narcotics officers working surveillance spotted a group of about five people, both black and Latino, making a drug transaction. The officers got out and detained two suspects in handcuffs. Ball ran away and was chased by Det. Eric Armstrong, 34, a veteran of 10 years. Ball got underneath a car. Armstrong got down on the ground, reached in, and began pulling him out. Ball pulled out a gun, and Armstrong shot him. Ball died at the scene. The location is within a few blocks of another deadly shooting by police earlier this year.
Eugene Morello, 57, a white man, was taken off life support at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center at 4 p.m. Friday, May 18. His death came 17 days after he was found beaten in the head with a hammer or similar object at a homeless encampment. Another transient found him unconscious near the railroad tracks off Sepulveda Boulevard north of Raymer Avenue in Van Nuys, and called authorities. Morello is thought to be from Toronto, via Nevada. Van Nuys detectives are seeking information of any kind on this case. Call (818) 374-0040 during the day, or (818)374-9500 at night.
Alfredo Morales, 26, a Latino man, was shot multiple times at 3654 E. Olympic Boulevard and died at 2:56 a.m. Friday, May 18. He was standing in a parking lot when a suspect came up on foot, shot in him the neck, and fled in a late 1980s Nissan. Morales was taken to County-USC hospital, where he died.
Update: LAPD Hollenbeck detectives have cleared this case. At least one Latino suspect was arrested. By chance, Morales and his friends had run into rival gang members while shopping at the Food-4-Less, and a confrontation preceded the shooting.
 Christopher Davenport, 36, a black man, was shot multiple times at 591 E. First St. south of Gaffey Street in San Pedro and died at 3:12 a.m. Friday, May 18. Neighbors heard shots and called police; the officers found Davenport lying dead on the sidewalk. He lived in the area, and was known to hang out on the street. Anyone with tips is asked to call LAPD Det. Michelle Esquivel at Harbor Division at (310) 522-2040.
 Renny Contreras Mendez, a 24-year-old Latino man, was shot once in the head while sitting in his parked truck in an alley behind the home of an ex-girlfriend at 623 E. 83rd St. in LAPD's 77th Street Division in South Los Angeles and died immediately. The shooting was at 10:28 p.m. Wednesday, May 16. Police believe he was a working man from South America and had been in the country about three years. Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD 77th Street Division at (213) 485-1385.
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Carlos Ornelas, 42, a Latino man, was shot by a police officer near the 10000 block of Foothill Boulevard in the Tujunga wash and died at 7:53 p.m. Wednesday, May 16.
Police said Ornelas was wielding a sword. A day earlier, he had attacked and cut another man with it. Police tracked him down to the wash, where a confrontation occurred. Two officers, Det. Christopher McKinney, 39, and Officer Adolfo Rodriguez, 34, shot him multiple times. Los Angeles Times story
Mario Lopez, 21, a Latino man, was struck by multiple gunshots at 1163 E. 64th St. in Florence, and died at 5:09 p.m. Tuesday, May 15.
 Wilbert Jamaal Mahone, 18, a black youth, was shot in the side at 3740 E. Pauline St. in Compton and died at 7:56 p.m. Monday, May 14.
Jamaal to his family, he had come to Los Angeles from Georgia to look for work, and was at the home of a family member when drive-by shooters came down the street, and shot him. He made it inside the house, and died there, holding the hand of his 16-year-old brother. He was one of seven children of a Boeing line supervisor and his wife, Wilbert and Yolanda Mahone. The couple had moved their family to Georgia from Compton four years ago because, "we had sons and we didn't want them to be killed," said Yolanda Mahone. But hunger for jobs had drawn the sons back to their old neighborhood, with its old associations. Wilbert Mahone had applied for a job as a union laborer job here in Southern California, and was waiting to hear whether he got it, which he did, after his death.
Update: Two suspects have been arrested.
 Carl Martin Pickering Jr., 26, a black man, was shot after getting into a parked Chevrolet in a parking lot in front of a liquor store on the southeast corner of 120th Street and Central Avenue in Watts. He was hit at about 2 p.m. Monday, May 14, and died at St. Francis hospital at 3:56 p.m. His assailant walked up and shot into the car. A possible personal dispute was involved. Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD Southeast detectives at (213) 972-7848.
See "Asphalt, Traffic, and Grief" below
* Update: A black man was arrested and charged with Pickering's murder. The suspect's motive was said to involve gang interests, said LAPD Southeast detectives. The case has been tried once so far, and resulted in a hung jury.
 No one has called in response to this billboard seeking witnesses in the murder of Marvin Powell, killed in February 2006 in the 1200 block of West 48th Street. The billboards have been posted in various places in South-Central Los Angeles, a combined effort of community advocates and the Los Angeles Police Department, and ask viewers to call Det. Joe Chavez at (213)-485-1383 if they have information. But like so many efforts of this nature, it hasn't worked.
Breaking through the witness-reluctance problem is one of the toughest tasks facing American law enforcement. In Los Angeles, rewards--up to $50,000 nowadays--and witness-relocation programs have failed to produce the soughtafter results. Year after year, police and prosecutors are nearly unanimous on one point: Lack of cooperation from witnesses remains the single most important impediment to prosecuting murder suspects in the mass of homicide cases.
Continue reading "Searching for Witnesses. Still. " »
351, as of May 15, according to the Los Angeles County coroner, which issued a year-to-year comparison of reported homicides to date countywide at the request of The Homicide Report.
That's down 8.4% from the same Jan. 1-May 15 period last year, when the coroner counted 383 reported homicides.
The sharp drop in the months leading up to summer--traditionally a high homicide season in L.A.--was spread across various regions of the county, but appears especially pronounced in some old hotspots, such as the MacArthur Park area, Watts, parts of South Los Angeles and the Pacoima area. Downtown Los Angeles also had fewer homicides than last year. The dip in these areas, as well as in some comparatively calm safe territory, such as Venice, has helped the Los Angeles Police Department post a 22% drop in homicides citywide this year.
Continue reading "How many homicides so far this year?" »
Very early this morning--5 a.m. on Thursday, May 17--gang officers from LAPD's Newton station were on the porch of this house with rosebushes. They were serving a search warrant in connection to the killing of Johnny Bridges last week (see Homicide Report post).
 Streetlights reflected off the pavement. The officers called the people in the house, knocked, made announcements, waited--to no avail. Two officers got out a big hook--used to wrench open metal mesh "ghetto doors"--while the other officer stood guard. They set to work on the door.
Det. Dennis Fanning was watching from the east side of the house. All at once, he heard gunshots and saw the three officers on the porch drop into a crouch in unison. The gunfire must be coming from inside of the house, he thought.
Continue reading "Newton: Bullets fly, and a 187 suspect is arrested" »
(Budweiser, spray-paint and Coca-Cola containers at the street shrine for Manuel Saucedo on 3rd Street in LAPD's Rampart Division on Thursday morning.)
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Click here for earlier post
Practically everyone in the Martinez house wears some kind of uniform. Norma Martinez, the mother, wears a light green shirt and pants to her job on the janitorial staff at LAX. Her husband, a truck technician, has a blue jumpsuit with his name embroidered on the lapel. Her son Jeffrey, 19, wore the uniform of a baggage handler at LAX. A daughter-in-law is a dental hygienist. A son-in-law has a white shirt and badge like a police officer's for his job as a security guard.
Family members take public transportation across very long distances, split housing, share the work of caring for various children. Into this archetypal L.A. working-class immigrant family came a phone call last February with news of the murder of the eldest son, Kevin Ramos, 23.
Continue reading "Dispatch: Kevin Ramos, 23" »
 Funeral services were held Tuesday at First AME church in the West Adams district for Watts homicide victim Mario Jackson, 45, one of the victims of a double homicide May 6.
To hear family friend Ella Livingston sing "The Last Mile of the Way" at the service, click here
(This week's list is average in size. Six of the 18 victims died from stab wounds, an unusually high number, and four were killed by law-enforcement officers.)
Below, a poster that appears on walls and fences around South-Central Los Angeles periodically. The posters appear, then fade and wear out. This week a new batch were up.
Roderick Poole, 45, a white man, was stabbed at 1650 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood on Sunday, May 13, and died at 10:06 p.m.
 He was stabbed in the parking lot of Mel's drive-In at about 9:35 p.m. Investigators believe Poole, who was walking with his wife, got into an argument with a woman driving a car who nearly hit him. They exchanged words, and the woman and her husband, who was a passenger in the car, attacked him, stabbing Poole several times with a knife. Police worked through the night and arrested the pair, who are both Latino and from South Los Angeles. She was apprehended at her home; he was taken into custody at a relative's house. They are Michael Sheridan, 25, and his wife, Angela Sheridan, 24. They are being held on about $1million dollars bail each, and face possible murder charges.
A friend who contacted The Homicide Report described Poole as a native of England, and a skilled guitar player and guitar teacher.
Anyone with additional information on what happened is asked to call LAPD Hollywood detectives Vickie Bynum and Larry Cameron at (213) 972-2910 or (213) 972-2905.
Los Angeles Times story
Raymond Gray, 43, a black man, was stabbed multiple times in a pitch-black alley called Werdin Place near 8th Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. He was taken to USC Medical Center, where he died at 1:40 a.m. Sunday, May 13. He was a transient on parole with some history of drug charges--a can collector, according to police. His assailants might have been a group of Latino men, they said.
 Jermaine Tryon, 25, a black man, was stabbed twice in the torso at 43807 15th Street West in Lancaster, and died at 2:51 a.m. Sunday, May 13.
Tryon, at left, was shot after leaving Schooner's Restaurant and Bar at 43800 15th St. in Lancaster. Investigators believe he was stabbed by his friend Michael King, 22, a parolee with a history of domestic violence; they say King flew into a rage, stabbed Tryon several times in the torso, then ran. Tryon walked back toward his friends, took off his shirt to show his wounds, then collapsed. Antelope Valley Hospital is right across from the crime scene, but he could not be revived. King remains at large.
Update: King was taken into custody in Watts by corrections agents on May 22, and booked for a parole violation. He has been questioned in the Tryon investigation, said Sheriff's Sgt. Martin Rodriguez.
Continue reading "Jermaine Tryon, 25" »
 Hector Jara, 31, a Latino man, was shot multiple times at 3323 Josephine St. in Lynwood and died at a hospital at 3:38 a.m. Saturday, May 12.
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Ventura Saenz, a 19-year-old Latino young man, was shot in the face by a sheriff's deputy near the intersection of Pixley Avenue and Muriel Avenue in Compton; he died at 1:58 a.m. Saturday, May 12.
Saenz died in an exchange of gunfire, according to the Sheriff's Department's account. The deputy pulled over Saenz , who was driving a pickup, on suspicion of making an illegal U-turn. Saenz stopped the pickup, then sped off when the deputy approached. The deputy got back in his patrol car and stopped him again.
Saenz reportedly did not obey orders to get out of the pickup, and fired a gun at the deputy, missing him. The deputy fired back and hit him. Saenz was transported to a hospital, where he died. A passenger in the pickup truck, an 18-year-old Latino man, was taken into custody. It was the fourth killing by a law-enforcement officer in four days.
Bryant Tennelle, 18, a young black man, was shot in the head in front of 1858 W. 80th St. near St. Andrews Street in Los Angeles. The assailant walked up to Bryant and shot him. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 11.
He was the son of the LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective. Police are asking anyone with information to call (213) 485-1383.
Update: This case has been solved. A 25-year-old black man, and a 16-year-old black youth, have been arrested and charged with the murder of Bryant Tennelle. They probably had no idea they were killing the son of a police officer. They both face trial. The arrests were the work of LAPD South Bureau Det. John Skaggs.
Barbarita Luna, a 25-year-old Latina woman, was stabbed at 4200 E. Main St. in Ventura. She was later discovered dead of multiple traumatic injuries inside a car in the 24000 block of Calabasas Road in Calabasas at about 9:13 a.m. Friday, May 11. Deputies called to the scene found near the car a Latino man, who was taken into custody.
(East Los Angeles) Juan Velasco, 30, a Latino man, was shot multiple times by an off-duty sheriff's deputy he had reportedly tried to rob in the 5900 block of Southside Drive. He died at 1:58 a.m. Friday, May 11.
The deputy was getting into his car to go home from an outing when he was confronted by two Latinos who demanded his keys and wallet, and beat him in the head with "a blunt object," sheriff's investigators said.
The deputy tried to identify himself; the beating continued. The deputy got his car door open, grabbed his gun, and shot one of the men, who died of his injuries. The second would-be robber ran away, and was caught and placed under arrest. The deputy suffered injuries to his head. He was treated at a hospital and released.
Andrew MacEarchern, 52, a white man, was shot by a Manhattan Beach police sergeant on the northwest corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in El Segundo, and died at 7:51 p.m. Thursday, May 10.
According to sheriff's Lt. Larry Lincoln, the sergeant was responding to a call about a man with a knife. When the sergeant met the man on the sidewalk, he had a 6-inch, fixed-blade knife out of its sheath, which he wore on his belt. He advanced toward the sergeant, did not obey commands to drop the knife, and the sergeant shot him. MacEarchern was transported to a hospital and died.
(Compton) Jose Orellana, 52, a Latino man, was stabbed at 1126 S. Center Ave. in Compton, and died at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 9.
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 Melvin Bright Jr., 39, a black man, was shot at 2043 W. Ave. H-7 in Lancaster, and died at the scene at 12:02 a.m. Wednesday, May 9. Suspects broke into his house while he, his wife and his children were inside. He heard a noise in the basement, and came downstairs to check. The suspects shot him and escaped. Robbery, and some kind of underground business, may have been involved. The victim was well-liked in his neighborhood, and an active and involved father, police said.
 (Westlake) Manuel Saucedo, 29, a Latino man, was shot in the back at 1832 W. 3rd St. in the Westlake area just east of downtown Los Angeles, and died at 10:24 p.m. Wednesday, May 9.
This location is between Burlington Street and Bonnie Brae. Saucedo, who was walking toward a taco truck for some dinner when he was attacked by drive-by shooters. He ran toward a nearby liquor store for help, but collapsed outside and died. Four Latinos in a small black car are the suspects. Saucedo was not a documented gang member, but LAPD Rampart detectives think his assailants probably were.
Continue reading "Manuel Saucedo, 29" »
 (Inglewood) Richard Tyson, 20, a young black man, was shot multiple times by an Inglewood police officer at 906 Victor Ave. in Inglewood and died at 1:24 p.m. Wednesday, May 9.
According to Inglewood police, Tyson was on a bicycle, and an officer from the department's anti-crime team had tried to stop him for a municipal code violation. Tyson ran. Officers followed. One was searching for him in a back yard and found him hiding in "dense bushes." The officer told him to surrender, and he "advanced toward" the officer. At some point, the man reached for his waistband, and the officer, thinking he was reaching for a gun, shot him. Tyson's foster family contacted The Homicide Report and sent the photo shown here.
Carl Dixon, 34, a black man, was shot multiple times at 1516 E. 81st St. in Florence and died at 6:08 p.m. Wednesday, May 9.
Two other black men and a black woman were wounded in this shooting, in which attackers on foot rained bullets on a group of people sitting outside. Dixon died. One of the other men was left in critical condition. The group had a 3-month-old baby sitting with them when the firing started. The baby was not hit. The suspects are believed to be Latino and to have driven away in a small, dark, compact car. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Patrick Tapia at (323) 890-5500.
See "A Survivor's Account"
(Pomona) Daniel Contreras, a 19-year-old young Latino man, was stabbed and slashed at 1065 E. Phillips Blvd. in Pomona, and died at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, May 8.
(Pasadena) Jamal Varcasia, a 20-year-old young black man, was struck at close range by 9 mm bullets in Pasadena, and died at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, May 8.
 (Athens) Rachelle Washington, a 27-year-old black woman, was shot in the chest at 10610 Budlong Ave. in Athens and died at 10:27 p.m. Monday, May 7. A 14-year-old boy was also hit by gunfire in this 9:45 p.m. shooting, and was left in critical condition. The pair were standing in a crowd of dozens associated with a local gang when a light-colored car drove by, and bullets flew. Both victims were transported to hospitals.
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 (Pasadena) Tony Walker, a 37-year-old black man, was shot in the head and torso at 120 E. Washington Blvd. in Pasadena and died at 1:56 p.m. Monday, May 7. He was sitting in a car with another man when drive-by shooters attacked. His companion was listed in critical condition.
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Minutes after the shooting, a young woman in white stood weeping a few yards from where a bullet had pierced Carl Pickering's chest. "I hope he's all right," she said. Near her, another woman in a blue tank top was answering the questions of a police officer who was chewing gum and scribbling notes. The woman in blue kept glancing around wildly, and clasping and unclasping her hands. "Oh my God, oh my God," she said to no one in particular.
A car pulled up and a teenage girl got out. Family members turned toward her. The girl was shaking her head. Pickering had just been pronounced dead at the hospital. "He gone!" cried the young woman in white. She stumbled into the street, bent double, covered her face, and screamed. Passing cars edged around her and kept going. The woman in blue stayed on the sidewalk alone. "They killed my baby!" she said. Across the street, a crowd of people, including several teenagers about 13 or 14 years old, watched the scene impassively. 
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LAPD Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a news conference Thursday in the 77th Street police station to tout this year's lower violent-crime rate. Five-year-old Cheyenne, right, the daughter of murder victim Ashley Cheval, stood fidgeting as the dignitaries talked. Cheyenne's family had been invited to the news conference to help draw attention to the unsolved murder problem.
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