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Of all Americans, black men have the most to fear from violent crime. Even Latino men, who suffer their own high homicide rates, are much less likely than black men to be murdered.
Older black men, like 50-year-old Charles Malone, interviewed here, are at serious risk--a neglected high-risk group. While advocacy efforts tend to focus on young people, more black men aged 40 to 50 were hospitalized for assault-related injuries than black youths 18 and under, according to 2001-2006 data from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. In 2004, black men 45 to 54 in Los Angeles County were nearly five times more likely to be murdered than Latino men in the same age group, and 14 times more likely than white men.*
Name: Charles Malone, 50
Occupation: None, since he was disabled in a shooting in 1996. At various times before that, he has been a juvenile delinquent, a Southwest College student, a school-district worker, a detention officer for the department of probation and an instructor at a local gym. He has also spent time incarcerated--for grand theft when he was 40.
Residence: Walnut, formerly of Watts, where he was interviewed.
Chance he will be murdered in a given year*: 4.8 in 10,000.
Chance a Latino man will be: 1 in 10,000
Chance a white man will be: 1/3 in 10,000
HR: How did you get the scar?
Malone: I was standing at a bus stop at Crenshaw and Hyde Park. I was coming home from work, still wearing my gym uniform -- a shirt and shorts. It was summer twilight. I was looking up the street for the bus, and had my back turned.
That's when I heard really loud pops behind me. Really, really loud, like a few feet away. I ran about 10 feet, and then I felt something trickle down my buttock. I reached back. It was blood. I just stopped. Someone was yelling at me to sit down, so I sat.
The paramedics came and ripped my clothes off me and took me to King-Drew. I had been shot five times. Three times in the stomach, twice in the buttock. The last thing I remember was going into surgery. King-Drew hospital saved my life.
HR: What was your recovery like?
Malone: I remember waking up three days later on a machine. I was in the hospital for two weeks and it took me four months to recover. I had to be wheeled around on a gurney. My mom and sister had to do all that. I had a colostomy bag for three months.
Continue reading "Black men as victims of crime: 'I wake up in a cold sweat.'" »
 As always, homicides reported in previous days are updated in this weekly, comprehensive chronological list based on records from the Los Angeles County coroner. On this week's list, two local artists: Poet Ebrahim Torbati and theater actor Darius Ever Truly.
(Left, a sign left on Torbati's garment-district store after his murder).
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Rogelio Parra, a Latino man, 23, was stabbed in the back during an apparent robbery attempt at 43rd and Ascot Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles at about 4:50 a.m. Oct. 28; he was taken to County-USC hospital, where he died at 5:50 a.m. The suspects are two Latinos in their late teens. Parra was a tamale salesman from Guerrero, Mexico, much liked by people in the neighborhood. LAPD Newton investigates.
Juan Jose Urbina-Castellon, 26, a Latino man, was shot and killed at 605 W. Opp St. near Neptune Avenue in Wilmington in what police believe was a dispute among acquaintances. He died at the scene at 3:48 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. It was the second killing in one night for LAPD Harbor's homicide unit.
Anyone with tips, including anonymous ones, is asked to give the detectives a call, or send an email. (310) 522-2036 or 21881@lapd.lacity.org.
 Laterian Tasby, 17, a black youth, was shot and killed at a party at 572 W. 11th St. near Pacific in San Pedro at about midnight on Oct. 28. He was attending a Halloween party with other students at San Pedro High School, where he played both football and basketball. Uninvited guests turned up, and there was a fight. Gunfire erupted in the backyard, hitting Laterian, who died at the scene.
There were many witnesses--teenagers and students at San Pedro High School, according to police. Very few have cooperated with the investigation, said Det. Sid Rodriguez of LAPD Harbor Homicide. Some cite fear; others say "snitching" is frowned upon, he said. "Even the good kids now won't snitch," he said.
San Pedro High School principal Bob Di Pietro said school staff had launched a "big outreach" to help students deal with their grief, including organized meetings in the school library with counselors. He said he was not surprised that students were not coming forward, but said he had no plans as yet to deal formally with the problem. "Detectives are handling it," he said. Detectives are at (310) 522-2036.
Randy Spencer Walls, 18, a black young man, was shot about 9:34 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at 9206 Park Street in Bellflower. Severely injured, he struggled in the hospital to survive and died Oct. 27 at 7:24 p.m.
Sheriff's Det. Joe Sheehy said a Latino man or youth came up behind Walls and shot him at close range -- perhaps from about 10 feet away. Walls was a high-school graduate, he said. Anyone with information, including anonymous tips, is asked to call Sheehy at (323) 890-5500.
Eddie Terry Guerra, 23, a Latino man, was shot and killed at 2448 El Segundo Blvd. in Willowbrook at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, and died at the scene.
Guerra had been at a local liquor store, and asked a friend to give him a ride to the home of ex-girlfriend. He arrived, uninvited, at her house to find she was holding a barbeque. He made a scene, investigators said. Someone shot him and fled the scene. The ex-girlfriend and fellow party hosts were in the back, and only heard the gunshots. A suspect or suspects remain at large.
Right, four candles and a bucket of flowers for Guerra on a broad sidewalk along El Segundo Boulevard.
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Luis Rodriguez, 34, a Latino man, was shot and killed in the 14300 block of Orange Avenue in Paramount at 6:35 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. His time of death was listed as 7:04 p.m.
He was hanging out in front of a liquor store with a friend when he was shot, possibly by another Latino man or youth, who fled the scene. Police had documented him as a member of a local gang which may have been skirmishing with a rival gang in that area in recent weeks or months.
Miguel Morales, 40, a Latino man, was shot dead in the driver's seat of his bandit "on time" taxicab in the 500 block of Sloat Street in Boyle Heights at about 3:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. Officers got a call of a shooting, and found Morales with a gunshot wound to the head. LAPD Hollenbeck detectives are investigating.
 Darius Ever Truly, 26, a black man, was found stabbed to death in the 3600 block of Bentley Avenue in Palms about 3:20 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. He had been at a party--large and loud enough for police to have come at some point during the night to quiet guests. Afterward, he was walking down the street with a cousin. A suspect, or perhaps more than one, walked up and stabbed them both. Truly died at the scene. The cousin was not as badly injured, and ran away.
Truly was an actor. He had studied theater in college, said a college friend, and had arrived from Tennessee in recent months to play Black Panther Bobby Seale in a production of "The Chicago Conspiracy Trial" at the Odyssey Theatre. The production was reviewed by both the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. He had no criminal record, nor do police believe he was involved in any way in local street fighting or gang wars.
Los Angeles Times story
Juan Ruelas II, a 22-year-old Latino young man, was shot once in the 5800 block of Esperanza Avenue in unincorporated Whittier, and died at 2:10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. HR is seeking more information on this case.
 A 16-year-old Latino was shot and killed, and three other teenagers were wounded, one critically, in a shooting near 43rd and Wall streets in South-Central Los Angeles, LAPD Newton area, at about 10:40 a.m. Friday, Oct. 26, according to police. Rodrigo Ponce, 16 died at 11:37 a.m.
Ponce and his three friends were hanging out when two Latino men or youths approached and asked, "Where are you from?" The victims said they belonged to no gang, but the suspects shot everyone in their group. Ponce died at the scene; a 15-year-old girl was struck several times and taken to a hospital in critical condition. Another 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were hit, but suffered less serious injuries. The suspects fled.
Below, Ponce's jacket on an office chair with pictures of Jesus Christ, and a donation jar on the counter of the small Latino grocery store on the corner where he died. Ponce did not go to school, and spent time with documented gang members, but he was well-liked by neighbors despite this. Clerks at the store said he went to a local bakery and bought neighbors coffee every morning. Dollar bills lined the bottom of the jar.
 
Update: Newton detectives have presented a case against a suspect in this case, and prosecutors have filed charges. He remains outstanding.
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 Eddie Green Jr., 31, a black man, was shot and killed at the intersection of 85th Street and 11th Avenue at 11:26 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. Police responding to a call of shots heard found him dead on the sidewalk. A black man or youth was seen running to a gray car, which sped off. Green's time of death was listed as 11:44 p.m.
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 Willie Myles, 23, a black man, died at a hospital at 8:09 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. His death came after he suffered for three weeks from gunshot wounds to the chest and back he received on Thursday, Oct. 4, at 1717 East 103rd Street in Watts.
Myles was well known in the neighborhood and frequented the train station. His killer was a black man or youth who quarreled with him briefly, then shot him and ran to a waiting car--an older-model white two-door--which sped away. LAPD South Bureau is investigating. (213) 485-4341. More information to come.
Arthur William Brown III, 18, a black youth, was shot in the neck near the intersection of Mayfair Avenue and Bolivar Street in Pomona, and died at 12:23 a.m. Oct. 24. HR is seeking more information on this victim.
Jose Valdez, 38, a Latino man, was shot at 6312 Makee Ave. in the Florence area at about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 24. He died at the scene--in an alley-- about 4:20 p.m. The suspects are Latino. More information to come.
 Deric De Carlo Wesley, 40, a black man, was stabbed by a man on a bicycle at the northwest corner of Vernon and Western avenues in South-Central Los Angeles at about 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, said LAPD South Bureau Det. Dave Garrido.
Wesley was taken to California Hospital in extremely critical condition. He survived on life support for more than two weeks before dying at 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23.
 A couple of hours after Wesley was stabbed, a suspect was arrested. The suspect, a 54-year-old black man, had insisted that Wesley owed him $5, and stabbed him over the debt.
(Left, Garrido at the crime scene Oct. 8.)
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Jonathan Alfred Morales, 17, a Latino youth, was stabbed once in the chest at the corner of Van Ness Street and Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at about 6:40 p.m.. He died at 7:23 p.m. from his injuries. The suspects in the case are two other Latino men or youths. One is in jail; the other is at large, authorities said. More to come.
 Ebrahim Torbati, a 71-year-old man of Iranian descent, was shot in the neck by a would-be robber in his shop at 840 Santee St., in L.A.'s fashion district downtown, at about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, and died at 4:54 p.m.
LAPD Det. Doug Pierce of Central Division said the suspect-- a black man 25 to 30 years old, slim, 5-foot-6, with a gray cap and shirt (pictured in sketch at right)--came to the store posing as a customer, left briefly, then returned and reached into the drawer in Torbati's desk where he kept his cash. Torbati tried to stop him. The man shot him, then ran north to 8th Street and Maple Avenue, where two women waited for him in a white Toyota Camry. They escaped. Det. Pierce is at (213) 972-1254.
Torbati was a poet and the owner of Rug City. Click here for dispatch "At Last, the poem is going to kill me," and three translations of his poems.
(This is the end of this week's list of all homicide victims in Los Angeles County).
(This homicide has not yet been listed by the coroner.)
Chinatown: Stanley Garcia, 52, a Latino man, died Friday, Oct. 19, three weeks after he was shot several times on Alpine Street in Chinatown and suffered what were at first thought to be non-life-threatening injuries. A determination of homicide came sometime after his death, hence the delay in this posting. LAPD Central detectives are investigating.
According to Lt. Paul Vernon, Garcia was one of the last surviving documented members of the Alpine street gang. This happens sometimes: Gangs go out of business.
 Dovon Harris, 15, was murdered in Watts four months ago, dying on June 17. The Homicide Report has been following his family's experience in monthly installments since then.
 This month would have been Dovon's 16th birthday.
His family celebrated with cake in a rented hall. Scores of friends and family members attended. Dovon's siblings and close friends blew out the candles.
"I was thinking about him all the time," his mother, Barbara Pritchett, said. "Thinking about what he would be doing if he were there. He'd be messing with everybody."
Pritchett had been doing OK, she said--back to normal, ostensibly, and on the job as a health-care worker.
But three days after the party, she fell apart.
It was her own birthday. When Dovon was alive, he always found her in the kitchen first thing in the morning, and said, "Here's your day! Here's your kiss!"
In the morning, she drove her brother to school. Then, "I came back and I never made it out of the car," she said. "I sat in the car for three hours and cried."
The next day, she went to work, and the same thing happened. "I was supposed to take the patient for errands," she said. "But when I went, I just sat in the car crying. I finally had to go inside and apologize."
On the next day she went to a medical center to inquire about counseling. She felt ill at ease, she said. "But I'm determined not to let this beat me. I know I need counseling."
Other family members are also registering the effects of grief. Since the murder, some relatives who once felt at ease at Pritchett's house now seem to feel uncomfortable there. Pritchett, her siblings, and her children, tell each other they are fine even when they're not. They go off alone to cry.
 Dewayne Harris, 26, Dovon's older brother (second from left), spent one day recently alone at the grave, sobbing.
Dovon's 18-year-old sister Dwaina (right) attended a meeting for teenagers held by the pastor at her church. They talked about the murder. Many of the teens were angry. Why? they asked.
Afterward Dwaina had one of her dreams about Dovon. She dreamed he was there at the meeting. "Every question everyone asked, he had an answer," she said. Then she woke up, and the answers weren't there anymore.
See Three Months After, and, Two Months After, and, One Month After.
 Ebrahim Torbati was a poet--and a reluctant exile.
He stayed in his native Tehran long after many of his Jewish contemporaries had fled Iran, said his nephew Arman Mehrfar, 37, a New York criminal defense attorney. He stayed because he loved Persian culture and its tradition of poetry, and he was heartbroken at the prospect of leaving, his nephew said.
Only in 1990 did this intellectual who spoke five languages,had studied English literature and wrote books in Farsi, find himself reduced to peddling rugs in a tiny no-frills storefront called "Rug City" on Santee Street in Los Angeles, where he was killed by a robber Oct. 23 at the age of 71.
People, culture, and life--not material things--were what mattered to Torbati, Mehrfar said. Having flown to Los Angeles after his uncle's death, his nephew wasn't surprised to find that his uncle had not maintained the most basic documents to settle his affairs. Torbati simply didn't care about such things.
He lived in a little efficiency apartment in the Valley, did crossword puzzles all day at his desk in the shop and read constantly. He was on page 173 of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera" when he died.
"He was unique--exceptionally smart, exceptionally well-read," Mehrfar said. "He didn't care so much about rugs. It was just a way to make a modest living. He was a terrible businessman because he was a poet..He could barely tie his own shoes. He was one of those geniuses whose mental meanderings were beyond what most people experience their whole lives."
(For more, and translations of Torbati's poems click 'read on' below)
Continue reading "Dispatch: "At last the poem is going to kill me."" »
 This is the weekly list of victims killed in Los Angeles County between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21, 2007, the day wildfires broke out throughout the county (left). Cases reported earlier on HR are updated here with confirmed records from the Los Angeles County coroner. No teenagers this week.
Miguel Luis Vasquez, 33, a Latino man, was found dead in the trunk of a car in the 4400 block of Paramount Boulevard in Pico Rivera in the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 21. The coroner listed his time of death as 4:37 p.m., and determined that he was a homicide victim. No one had seen him for two weeks, said Sgt. Chris Brackpool of sheriff's homicide bureau. But they had not reported him missing.
Esteban Tanory, 46, a Latino man, was stabbed at 4905 6th St. in Compton and died at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. More to come.
Felix Nolasco, 52, a Latino man, was shot in the head on the eastbound Interstate 10 Freeway at Frazier Avenue near Baldwin Park. His time of death was listed as 1:18 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. More to come.
John Millyard, 38, a white man, was shot at about 8:12 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at 14085 Terra Bella St. in Panorama City and died at 10:50 p.m. Officers got a call of an assault. They found Millyard lying in the street wounded. He was taken to Holy Cross hospital, where he died. He was not from this area, and investigators are seeking to find his family. Authorities cited records showing Millyard spending time in Arizona and Utah.
 Victor Nunez, 24, a Latino man, was shot and killed at a wedding reception in the 44200 block of 130th Street in Lancaster, and died at 10:40 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, according to Los Angeles Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Brackpool. He said Nunez tried to intervene in a fight between the groom and another man at the party. The man, also Latino, left, then came back and killed him.
Kevin Lopez, 23, a Latino man, was shot multiple times at O'Melveny Avenue and Kelowna Street in Pacoima, and died at 4:20 a.m. Friday, Oct. 20. More to come.
Santos Castillo Jr., 21, a Latino young man, was shot in the abdomen during a large Holloween flyer party in the 17800 block of Arvida Street in Granada Hills about 11:40 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, and died at 3 a.m. Oct. 20.
He was inside when a man whom police called a documented gang member walked up to him and began arguing. The argument spilled outside onto the sidewalk, and Castillo, who police said was not a documented gang member, was shot. He was from Sun Valley. Detectives need to talk to anyone who was at the party, "but by the time we got there, everyone was gone," said Det. Mike Fesperman of LAPD Devonshire. He can be reached at (818) 332-0537.
Kenneth Holmes, 20, a black man, was shot in the head and torso during a confrontation with other men or youths on Friday, Oct. 19, in front of a house at 428 E. 67th St. in South-Central Los Angeles, in LAPD's Newton Division. He was standing near the porch, and a quarrel erupted near the door. He died at 1:37 p.m. The suspects are also black.
* Update: Newton has cleared this. Charges have been filed against a suspect--a wanted man still outstanding.
 Jhovanny Rodriguez-Ramirez, 26, a Latino man, was shot and killed at 113 S. Dwight Ave. in Compton about 7:08 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, sheriff's deputies reported. He had quarreled with someone. The person followed him as he walked away and shot him in the back. He died at the scene.
 Kathy Holland, 50, a black woman, was killed in a double homicide with Leonard Pina (below) in a drive-by shooting at 1038 W. 42nd Street, just west of Vermont Avenue, in South Los Angeles at 3:55 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19. She was shot repeatedly in the abdomen, and died at California Hospital at 6:07 a.m., nearly two hours after Pina died.
 LAPD South Bureau detectives said that Holland and Pina were apparently standing on the street when a dark car drove up and someone opened fire. Pina died at the scene. Neither Pina nor Holland were gang members, said LAPD Det. Sean Hansen. They were not using narcotics. They were just standing there, hanging out. There seemed no obvious motive for this Southwest area shooting.
The street is the southern border of the campus of Manual Arts High School. Police were working to dismantle the crime scene before school started that morning.
(Above, Det. Vince Carreon at the crime scene, and police tape near a school safety sign.)
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 Leonard Joseph Pina, 28, a black man, was killed in the Oct. 19 double homicide described above. He was shot in the chest and flank, and was pronounced dead at 4:11 a.m.
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Chris Perkins, 48, a black man, was shot in the chest arm and stomach behind a building at 2048 E. 101st Street in the Jordan Downs housing project late in the evening on Thursday, Oct. 18. He was taken to UCLA-Harbor hospital, where he died at 10:46 p.m. More to come.
Cesar Jose Diaz, 42, a Latino man, was stabbed in the 11600 block of Hunnewell Avenue in Sylmar about 7:50 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, and died right after at 7:55 p.m.
He and two friends were in a garage drinking. An arguemtn broke out between Diaz and one of the men, identified as Jose Avilez, 38. Avilez pulled out a screwdriver and stabbed Diaz. He was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Bruce Glover, 51, a black man, was shot dead in the torso and head near the intersection of West 59th Street and Estrella Avenue in South Los Angeles at about 11:50 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, in the LAPD 77th Street station area. His time of death was listed as two minutes before midnight. Officers responding to a radio call of a shooting in this cul-de-sac found Glover lying dead in the middle of the street, said LAPD Lt. Lyle Prideaux. People nearby had heard an argument, then gunshots. He was not from that neighborhood, and had spent some time in jail, police said.
 Moises Enriquez Arias, 22, a Latino man, was shot and killed by a black man or youth who got out of black Acura-like car in the 2800 block of South Bronson Avenue in Los Angeles in the LAPD Southwest area at about 5:50 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15.
Police said Arias was riding a bicycle with a companion just before the shooting. They said the car pulled up and an argument ensued, perhaps after the occupants asked Arias where he was from. One assailant then chased and shot him. The attacker's companion fled. Officers responding to a shooting call found Arias dead between parked cars. Detectives are seeking information. Dets. Sean Hansen and Chris Luna are at (213) 485-1383.
 A McDonald's 1/3-pound burger box and soda at his sidewalk shrine.
(This is the end of the weekly list of Los Angeles County homicide victims, based on Los Angeles County coroner's records, interviews with police, and other sources.)
 "Through gang life, we tried to avoid reality, pain and misery.... We sought relief through retaliation, extortion, and robbery more and more often....
"We reached a point in our lives where we felt like a lost cause.... We were sick and tired of pain and trouble; we were frightened and hid our fear.... When nothing relieved our paranoia and fear, we hit bottom and became ready to ask for help."
--from the unreleased "Gangsters Anonymous: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions"
Kenny Mitchell, 44, is a longshoreman and the founder of Gangster's Anonymous. He believes the solution to homicide lies in changing the thinking of gang members through a 12-step program. (Photo by Glenn Koenig/LAT)
HR: What is Gangsters Anonymous?
Mitchell: It's a 12-step program, based on Alcoholics Anonymous. We are recovering gangsters who meet to help each other stay crime-free. We believe the gangster mentality is a disease--a mental disorder. We are sick. We suffer from a criminal mentality. But recovery is our responsibility.
HR: How did Gangsters Anonymous get started?
Continue reading "Homicide perspectives: Kenny Mitchell, founder, Gangsters Anonymous" »
Los Angeles: A 2-month-old baby boy, Latino, was discovered dead at about 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18 at 8012 S. Figueroa Ave. in Los Angeles, in LAPD's 77th Street Division. Patrol officers were summoned in response to a call of a possible SIDS death; investigators later determined that the baby had suffered some blunt force trauma. LAPD child-abuse detectives later named her 20-year-old father the suspect, and he was arrested.
Over the past week, HR has been experiencing a large surge in comments. As a result, there is a backlog in postings. Apologies, and we thank readers for their patience.
The following series of posts comprises the weekly list of homicide victims in Los Angeles County for this period. A slow week--until Sunday, that is, when at least seven people were killed, including two in LAPD's Pacific Division, which covers Venice and parts of the Westside, one of the lowest homicide areas in the city. Reports from days past are updated here: The information is from law enforcement, the Los Angeles County coroner, and families. Above, the cousins of Julio Lizano, Echo Park victim from Sunday, light a candle next to the bloodstain on the sidewalk where he fell.
Julio Lizano, 22, a Latino young man, was shot multiple times at 2113 W. Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14, and died about an hour later at County-USC. Lizano was inside the Brazil tobacco store near Burrito King (below), and had some kind of confrontation with two suspects, said LAPD Northeast Det. Percy Morris.
The suspects walked out, and Lizano did too. The trio faced off again on the sidewalk a few paces from the store, and one of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot Lizano. The suspects then ran on Sunset, and up Alvarado. Lizano had been documented by police as a gang member, but was rumored to have been recently "jumped out"--allowed to part ways with the gang after a ceremonial fight. He wanted to get away from it, and had plans to move out of the neighborhood. Detectives are at (213) 847-4261.
 Armando Mariscal, 33, a Latino man, was shot while riding in a car waiting at a traffic light at Lincoln Boulevard and Maxella Avenue on the Westside between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14. He later succumbed to his injuries. He was the second of two LAPD Pacific Division homicide victims to die in one weekend.
A second person in the group inside the car was wounded, but not seriously, Lt. Richard Mossler said. The group drove a few blocks trying to get Mariscal to a hospital before police and paramedics took over. The incident may have involved an earlier quarrel, investigators said.
Omar Eliceo Bourdet, 22, a Latino man, died at California Hospital early Sunday, Oct. 14, after being shot at a quinceanera party at a rental hall in the 2800 block of East Olympic Boulevard in LAPD's Hollenbeck Division. The shooting took place at about 11:40 p.m. Oct. 13, Det. Gustavo Barrientos of Hollenbeck said.
A brawl had erupted at the party, and spilled outside, where someone pulled out a gun and fired. Bourdet was the only one struck. Other partygoers drove him to California Hospital, left him there and fled, according to detectives. Trauma surgeons were unable to save him. Since doctors had been left in the dark about where their patient had come from, or who had dropped him off, it took some time for police to piece together what happened. Bourdet was the father of an 8-month-old baby, and unemployed, police said.
Update: LAPD Hollenbeck detectives have cleared this case. At least one Latino suspect was arrested. The shooting was, in essence, friendly fire: During the brawl, which was over a girl, the suspect waved a gun. It went off and hit Bourdet, a friend of the suspect, and a random victim.
Bobby Smith, 40, a black man, was shot at Tajuata Avenue and Cyrene Drive in Sheriff's Department territory in Carson about 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13. Smith died the next morning at Harbor-UCLA hospital. More information to come
Devon Curry, 18, a young black man, was shot in a drive-by shooting at 5426 99th Place near La Cienega at about 4 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 14. He was was standing with a group when the attacker opened fire; the site is in a portion of LAPD's Pacific Division where LAX is acquiring property. It was one of two Pacific Division homicides this weekend. Curry was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he died, said Lt. Richard Mossler. His time of death was listed as 4:34 a.m.
 Daniel Arviso, 19, a Latino man, was shot by a suspect on foot in the 1400 block of Blinn Avenue in Wilmington in LAPD's Harbor Division at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14. The homicide resulted from an argument, police believe. Arviso died about eight hours later after being taken to Harbor-UCLA hospital during what proved to be an extremely busy weekend for that trauma center.
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Juan Valadez, 18, a Latino young man, was shot several times, and his body was left scraped and bruised, after an attack at 41711 E. 106th Street in Palmdale at about 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 14. He died at the scene. The shooting occurred at a party, where an argument of some kind broke out, according to Lt. Lawrence Delmese of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Palmdale station. More information to come.
Update: Sheriff's detectives have cleared this case. At least one latino suspect was arrested.
 Elsy Molina, 36, a Latina woman, was found dead in the sleeping area of the tractor-trailer truck she operated in the 2800 block of Victoria in Carson on Friday, Oct. 12, at about 10 a.m., said Sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg. Her throat had been cut. When Molina, who worked alone as a truck driver, did not come home Thursday night, her sisters went to look for her. They found the truck, and Molina inside. She was the mother of as many as three small children. Authorities do not believe she was raped or robbed; it's possible her attacker knew her.
Dekweinte Hunt, 14, a black youngster, died some hours after being wounded in a party shooting that also killed 26-year-old Deandre Turner (below), making this Compton incident a double homicide.
The shooting happened at 623 S. Long Beach Blvd. in Compton at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, according to Sgt. Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide bureau. Dekweinte's death at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood occurred at about 10:30 a.m., about eight hours after Turner died. A third victim, a black man or youth, remains hospitalized in serious condition.
Wegener said the victims were at a large party. As the party broke up and people flowed outside, there was an argument, then a shooting. Some gang members were involved in the occasion in some way, police believe, though it was not clear what led to the argument. About 200 people attended the party; not one remained to give information to detectives when they arrived, Wegener said.
Wegener and his partner Det. Richard Biddle are seeking clues of any kind, including anonymous ones. They can be reached at (323) 890-5500.
Deandre Turner, 26, a black man, was also killed in the double homicide listed above at 623 S. Long Beach Blvd. in Compton on Thursday, Oct. 11 along with 14-year-old Dekweinte Hunt, according to sheriff's deputies. He died at 2:32 a.m.
 Mario Landeros, 31, a Latino man, was shot in the face at 5115 Melrose Ave. in east Hollywood at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Officers responding to an "ambulance shooting" radio call found him down in front of the building; he died shortly after being transported to Hollywood Presbyterian at 12:12 a.m. Oct. 11. His family is from El Salvador. LAPD Hollywood Division supervisor Det. Wendi Berndt said that preliminary information suggests that gangs were not involved in this death, but the investigation continues. The spot is a couple blocks west of Western Avenue on Melrose.
 Alisha Johnson, 21, a white young woman, was strangled and found dead in an alley in the 8100 block of Vanscoy Avenue in North Hollywood on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Her boyfriend, Michael Lubrunda, 33, a Latino man, was later taken into custody on suspicion of murder. Johnson was pregnant. Anyone with more information on this case or what preceded it is asked to call LAPD North Hollywood Dets. Thomas Townsend and Timothy Kirkpatrick at (818) 623-4045.
 Shonteia Mayfield, 30, a black woman, was found burned to death in a vehicle at 2030 W. 17th Street in Long Beach just after midnight Tuesday, Oct. 9. Firefighters summoned police after being called to the burning compact car in an industrial area where she was found. She was a mother of three from Compton. Anyone with any information is asked to call Long Beach Dets. Mark McGuire or Hugo Cortes at (562) 570-7244.
This is the end of the weekly list of homicide victims in Los Angeles County recorded by the county coroner.
 LAPD Southeast: Guy Scott, 48, a black man, was shot in an alley at 101st and Figueroa streets at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, said LAPD South Bureau Det. Sal LaBarbera. Police were called to UCLA-Harbor hospital, where he died. They learned that Scott--described as a transient--had stumbled out of an alley where neighbors said he had been sleeping with a gunshot injury, and made it to 102nd and Figueroa where someone called an ambulance for him. Paramedics asked him what happened. He told them he had been shot and pointed to the alley. Those were his last words. He was recently out of prison. (This homicide has not yet been listed by the coroner.)
 "When does this stop hurting?" Althea Mizell wailed.
She had begun sobbing while recounting her son's murder.
It has been almost a year since Marcellus D'Angello Mizell, 36, was shot at 57th and Western Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles.
 D'Angello, as his family called him, was "not an angel," his mother said. She recalled the day she learned he'd joined the gang: He was standing silhouetted against the light of the kitchen, and she saw a large bump on the back of his head. He had been hit--jumped into the gang without her knowledge.
They knocked out a couple of teeth too.
After that, he was in and out of jail. No arguments swayed him. "You are not my mom. The Crips are my mom!" he had snapped at her during one quarrel. But when he went to jail, she was the one he called.
Continue reading "Dispatch: 'Like he didn't even exist'" »
The following posts represent the weekly list of all homicide victims in Los Angeles County based on coroner's records, Oct. 1-8, 2007, in chronological order. Homicides reported earlier this week are updated here with more complete information. Right, a bullet hole in the stucco at the spot where Joshua Thierry, 18, was killed in South Los Angeles on Oct. 7.
Danny Rodriguez, 14, Latino, was shot and killed in the 4700 block of East Compton Boulevard in Compton at 8:16 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8. Sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefund described the shooting as "gang-related" and said that Danny had been in an argument with another Latino teenager, 15 or 16 years old, who then shot him and fled. Danny ran a short distance and collapsed. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
 Kenneth Earl Glass, 39, a black man, was shot and killed at 3231 W. 71st St. at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 7. Officers received a radio call of a disturbance with shots fired, said Det. Refugio Garza of LAPD South Bureau Homicide. They arrived to find Glass lying in the front yard with multiple gunshot wounds. A burgundy SUV fled eastbound from the scene. Glass was a father of two who was trying to start his own business, Garza said. Detectives are at (213) 485-1385.
 Joshua Thierry, an 18-year-old black youth, died after being shot in the 1300 block of West Jefferson Boulevard on Sunday, Oct. 7, at about 11:35 a.m., police said. Thierry was sitting in a barber's chair in front of a beauty supply store with two friends, a black man and a woman, both 31, when a compact dark car with three or four black men or youths drove up. Someone inside the car fired up to half a dozen shots. Thierry was hit in the torso and died later at California Hospital. The man with him was struck in the leg, and was reported in stable condition. The woman was not hit.
Thierry was the father of a young child, known on the streets, but lately trying to get his life back on track. He had recently moved to Georgia, and had only been back in Los Angeles a short time when he was killed, investigators said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Southwest homicide detectives at (213) 485-1383.
 Kevin Baker, 23, a black man, was shot multiple times in an apartment at 38002 N. 15th St. in Palmdale. His time of death was listed as 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 7.
Baker had been feuding with an acquaintance, Trabeon Long--also a 23-year-old black man. The feud dated back to an old quarrel over a woman, detectives said.
On this particular night, the feud escalated into a fistfight in the common area of an apartment building. Baker took a hard punch, and went inside. Long also retreated to his apartment. Shortly after, just passed midnight, Baker went looking for Long again, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman. Baker knocked on Long's door. Long answered with a gun in his hand. He told Baker to go away. Baker remained. Long then shot him, Coleman said. Baker died shortly after. Prosecutors are weighing what, if any, charges will result.
Jason Valdez-Perez, 17, was shot once in the head east of 759 E. 109th Street in Watts at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. An 18-year-old companion who was with him at the time was wounded in the shooting but survived. The suspect, a lone black man or youth, fled north on McKinley. Jason's friend was treated and released.
Jason, six-foot-one with an easy smile, was a Locke High School senior about to graduate. He loved animals, and wanted to be a veterinarian, said friends and family members, gathered to grieve at his home four days after his killing, Jason's pet Chihuahua padding around their feet aimlessly. He was the middle child of three, and had no gang ties, said his uncle Raul Perez. "An innocent face," his uncle said. He was randomly targeted--happened to be standing outside when the attacker struck, detectives said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Dets. Sam Marullo or Nathan Kouri at (213) 485-4341.
 Isaias Rueda, a 23-year-old Latino man, was shot while waiting for a taxi in the 200 block of Kenmore Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. A second Latino man, 30, was also struck by gunfire and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Rampart Det. Fred Faustino said Rueda was a construction worker with no ties to gangs. He lives in the neighborhood, and was seeing off his friend, who was waiting for the taxi to take him home. A dark SUV drove up. Rueda walked up to the SUV window, thinking it was the taxi. Words were exchanged, and gunfire erupted. A possible "mistaken identity" killing, Faustino said.
The shooting took place in the Normandie Hill area, right at the apex of a little rise in a neighborhood with sweeping views to Griffith Observatory. Fourteen-year-old Erwin Escobar was killed two blocks to the south on the same street last month. Anyone with information is asked to call Rampart homicide at (213) 207-2060.
 Alberto Rojas, 46, a Latino man, was killed in a double homicide in the the 3700 block of Gage Avenue in Bell Gardens early Friday, Oct. 5, at about 3 a.m.--the same homicide in which Federico Perez, 32, below, was killed.
Deputies said Rojas and Perez were arguing with a suspect--also a Latino man--in a bar. After closing, the argument continued outside the bar in front of 3613 Gage Ave., and ended with the suspect shooting both victims. Coroner's investigators reported that Rojas was both shot and dragged by a car. Perez died at the scene; Rojas was taken to a hospital but could not be saved. His time of death was listed as 6:24 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5. Shortly after the shooting, the suspect was netted in a traffic stop. He is under arrest.
 Federico Perez, 32, a Latino man, was killed in the same double homicide as described above, with Alberto Rojas. He suffered gunshot wounds to the torso. H
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