Herbert Stevens III, 47

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Herbert Stevens, 47, a black man, was shot and killed on a palm-lined block of 1700 39th Street in Southwest Los Angeles at about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, and died at 5:28 a.m., said LAPD Det. Robert Lait. He was standing outside; the killers drove up and shot him, he said.

Stevens was a graduate of Los Angeles Trade-Tech college and a father of three who had worked at the Department of Water & Power as an electrician and also worked as a neighborhood handyman. Investigators think he may have been killed simply because he looked much younger than his 47 years: His 11-year-old daughter said he came to her school once, and her teachers mistook him for her older brother. See ‘Coping with Homicide at age 11’

Detectives are seeking any information, including anonymous tips, on the shooting at 1756 W. 39th Street at about 2:20 a.m. Sept. 5. Although another shooting occurred earlier at Martin Luther King Jr. Park a block away, the two shootings are not believed to be related, they say. LAPD Dets. Robert Lait and Stacey Szymkowiak can be reached at (213) 485-1383.