Times coverage: Lazhanae Harris, 13 and on the run, was stabbed to death in L.A.

Lazhanae Harris, a black 13-year-old girl, was found stabbed to death in a rundown apartment in the 100 block of East 97th Street in Historic South Central Los Angeles on Saturday, March 7, 2009.  Preshae Bryan Tanner, a 22-year-old black woman, was charged in the murder and has pleaded not guilty. Tanner was romantically involved with a man who was staying at the apartment, police said.

The Times' Kim Christensen and Garrett Therolf have details today of Lazhanae's short life in a story about the deaths of at least 268 children between January 2008 and early August 2009 who, at some point, had come under the protection of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Seventy-six of those deaths were determined to be homicides, according to internal county documents:

The loving attention that eluded Lazhanae Harris in life flooded the New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church at her funeral in March.

Family and friends, mostly youngsters, packed the South Los Angeles sanctuary that day and "all seemingly admired this girl," recalled congregation clerk Myrna Smith.

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. They were all 12-, 13-, 14-year-old kids. And they were all crying."

Days before, Lazhanae, 13, had been found in a rundown apartment in South Los Angeles, face down on a bloody mattress. Her femoral artery had been slashed.

Shunted from place to place for most of her life, she was left with no guardian but the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The agency took her from her mother's custody at age 3, placing her in a series of homes that didn't last.

Read more about Lazhanae's life: Lazhanae Harris, 13 and on the run, was stabbed to death in L.A.

Read the comments left on her original Homicide Report post

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Times coverage: Rash of shootings overnight in L.A. [UPDATED]

Five shootings overnight in Los Angeles have left one man dead and four others hospitalized, two in critical condition. [Updated on Oct. 5: Los Angeles County coroner's officials have identified the victim killed early Sunday as Louis Pickett, Jr., a 24-year old black man.]

The Times' Corina Knoll has details on L.A. Now. Read: Several shootings overnight leave one dead 

Click on the map image above to see more details of the shootings and street views of the blocks where they took place.

Update: Trial nears in stabbing death of USC student

The trial of Travion T. Ford, a 25-year old black man, on charges of killing Bryan R. Frost, a 23-year old white man, is scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Frost, a USC student, was stabbed early on Thursday, Sept. 18, near 28th Street and Orchard Avenue in University Park.

The Times' Larry Gordon has a story today on rising town-gown tensions in the lead-up to the trial:

The two young men were close in age, shared the same turf in the neighborhoods near USC but led very different lives. Then, with the slamming of a metal gate, they had a chance encounter late one night in September.

After drinking with friends, Bryan R. Frost, a USC student and aspiring film director, walked past a sliding gate just north of campus and, on a whim, shoved it closed. The loud clang drew the ire of Travion T. Ford -- street name "Poison" -- who was visiting his mother's apartment there.

Angry words were exchanged, then they fought. Frost, 23, an Idaho native and former West Point cadet with an excellent academic record, died at a hospital later that morning of knife wounds.

Ford, a 25-year-old warehouse worker who has had several brushes with the law, was arrested six days after the Sept. 18 fight and is scheduled to stand trial next week on a murder charge. Facing a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison, Ford has pleaded not guilty and told police that he stabbed Frost in self-defense against a drunk and aggressive opponent.

Frost's death triggered grief around campus and calls for better security. Among other things, USC and the Yellow Cab company made it easier for students to use taxis at night rather than walk home. Meanwhile, some area residents said they were upset about the death but also expressed annoyance over having rowdy students as neighbors.

Ford's relatives and friends say his case is being handled more harshly because it involves a white USC student and a black defendant and because the school wants to project a security-conscious image.

Read more: Tensions high as trial approaches in fatal stabbing of USC student

Photo: The fatal encounter began when USC film student Bryan Frost closed the metal gate of this apartment complex as he walked by with friends. Travion Ford came out yelling and the two began to fight, according to testimony. Credit: Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times