Dispatch: 'My son’s death was senseless and selfish'
Trayvon Jeffers left prison in the spring of 2007 determined to turn his life around. He'd been paroled after serving 4 1/2 years of a seven-year sentence.
He was just 21 when he pleaded no contest to two counts of assault with a firearm, one on a police officer.
The prison stint capped off what, by his own admission, had already been a long history of gang banging.
Raised in Compton, Jeffers was involved in gangs by the time he was 12. As a juvenile, he had multiple encounters with the law. As an adult, he spent time in jail on narcotics and vehicular violations.
But prison was life-altering.
“Trayvon told me, ‘It was no joke, bro.’ In prison he had to play the race game. His decisions were not his decisions and he realized you couldn’t trust even your best friend," said Raul Diaz, who befriended him after Jeffers went to work at Homeboy Industries following his release. "It was clear he didn’t want to go back.”
At Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit organization that assists at-risk youth and former gang members, Jeffers found full-time employment. At first, Jeffers managed the front desk, greeting visitors and helping support numerous activities.
After a little more than a year, Jeffers was promoted to data collector, creating reports for financial contributors and monitoring client jobs, parole housing and new arrests.
Jeffers, who never earned a high school diploma or GED, was hesitant in the new role.
“Tray didn’t know if he could do it,” Diaz said, “but he was on it. I work with people who have bachelor's, master's, you name it, and Tray was one of the best. He relieved me from a lot of my stress. I never second-guessed him.”
