Teenager shot to death while riding bike in South Los Angeles

A 14-year-old youth was shot and killed Wednesday night while riding a bicycle in South Los Angeles, the latest probable victim of surging violence between two gangs, police said.

Taburi Watson was riding his bike near St. Andrews Place and 87th Street about 7:25 p.m. when one or more assailants fired shots.

More than one bullet struck the teenager, who staggered a short distance from his bicycle and collapsed. Neighbors came outside after hearing shots to find him lying on the ground. Taburi was declared dead after being transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

His death is the fourth in December with probable links to two warring Crips gangs in the Manchester Square and Gramercy Park areas east of Inglewood, Los Angeles Police Det. Eric Crosson said. A family buried one of the victims Thursday, even as the county morgue was arranging to receive Watson's body.

One of the murders was especially high-profile.

Kashmier James, 25, was shot about 10:20 p.m. Christmas night  after celebrating the holiday with family. She had stopped to visit a friend in the 1700 block of 85th Street near Western Avenue.

As James stood in the street outside her friend's home, two men in a blue Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up, police said. One man got out and fired nine shots at James, striking her at least once in the head. Her 3-year-old daughter witnessed the shooting from the back seat of James' car.

Relatives interviewed by KTLA-TV Channel 5 said James was not involved in gangs and was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The office of City Councilman Bernard Parks has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

The manner of her killing suggests that gang members were probably responsible, Det. Samuel Arnold said.

Watson, at the time of his shooting, was wearing clothes suggesting an affiliation with one of the warring gangs, Crosson said. He was technically in “safe” territory for that gang, but near the turf of the rival gang.

Crosson called the violence part of an “escalating feud,” but added, “I’ve been in this division 13 years and they’ve been shooting each other the entire time.”

Anyone with information should call detectives at (213) 485-1383.

RELATED:

Video: Reward offered in Christmas shooting of Kashmier James

-- Howard Blume

Map: Location of Wednesday's fatal shooting, shown in purple, as well as the location of the Christmas night shooting death of Kashmier James, marked with arrow. An additional 128 homicides have been reported within two miles since January 2007. Source: Homicide Report

Comments

[WILLB3]

WOW, it brings tears to my eyes to see this area filled with beautiful homes, with so many murders. I have many great memories of riding my bike to darby park, enjoying playing in our back yard tree house, and walking to the catholic school a few blocks away. what is happening to our youth ? Why are they growing up with the only option to join a gang ? Why is it necessary to kill your neighbor ?

[WILLB3]

most of you people on this post or only offering band aids to a much bigger problem. most want to lock them up , blacks and mexicnas. education is the solution, provide these young boys and girls with an education,and they can gain confidence by knowledge. Give them access to the same quality of teachers, classrooms, and books like the west side of LA. they will not have any need to join an gang.

[So Cali]

Russ...

It must suck bad where you live, because you, like many people have a jealousy thing going on with So Cal. You get some sick thrill out of reading the LA homicide blog, then trashing So Cal? Homicides happen in every big city..., not just LA.

Your San Andreas fault comment reveals how sick your mind really is...

[Mister Chris]

WILLB3: The majority of them do get the same access. They don't "choose" to not be able to read or have job skills, but they're trapped in a vicious cycle. They think the cops are their enemies and white people are racist, so they set themselves up for failure. They've got the whole thing scoped, so why try? The solution is for people to really speak honestly. That means, for starters, that idiots like Maxine Waters are recognized by everyone as such and they have 0% to say on the matter. They are a major part of the problem, in fact. Then, we simply start arresting gang members. No, you can't be in a gang. Want to? Really? Okay, to jail. Still want to? Really? Okay, stay in jail. We only need the will to stop w/ all the BS and actually put our foot down---stomp 'em.

[steveg68]

Maybe it's time to change the name of the area, because I associate "South L.A." with heavy crime, it has a bad name, I know, let's call it "If you're in this neighborhood, you're highly likely to be the victim of a violent crime." Can that fit on one of those blue signs? At least that way, people will be a little more uneasy about spending time on the street waiting around to be murdered due to wearing the wrong color hat.

[BlackShadow]

I left CA about 16 years ago after watching the state slip slowly into oblivion. I'm surprised that anyone can live there anymore. If CA is the model for the rest of the nation (liberal's paradise), God help us all.

[wilfel]

This usually have in South Central L.A.

[wilfel]

This usually happened in South Central L.A.

[John Gotti]

"Animals"..............................................

[John Cromwell]

One can only hope these brave cowards crawl out from under the septic tank they hide under…grow a spine and show the world how tough they are in the light of day. C'mon scumbags….show us how tough you are come out into the light of day and show yourselves.

[eeejay]

One person commenting said the kid probably thought he looked cool wearing his gang colors thereby assuming this kid of a gang member. I can't he if he was or wasn't in a gang, the article doesn't say. But you can't assume someone is a gang member because of where they were at the time. I saw the same kind of posting last week with the Kashmier James shooting. People questioning what she was doing in such a "bad neighborhood," with their apparent conclusion being maybe she wasn't all that innocent. Contrary to what a lot of people think, there are a lot of good and decent people who live in South Los Angeles. Because you are gunned down on the streets of South Los Angeles is not a testament to your moral character. I lived a couple of blocks away from where these two shootings occurred. I lived on 84th Place and Western Avenue for 3 years and I'm not a gang member.

[eeejay]

The State Department issues travel alerts to U.S. Citizens when traveling abroad to places known to be hazardous, why don't LA City and LA County issue such advisories for certain neighborhoods, especially if there are warring gangs in the area or even a higher than normal amount of violent crimes. I know the LA Times issues crime alert, but honestly, I have never seen one issued for any parts of South LA. Maybe the LA Times believes that South LA is always dangerous, so don't go there if you don't have to. Which brings me to my next point, if you do have to travel there, wouldn't it be nice to know if you are going to a part where 2 gangs are warring. I'm certain the LAPD knows when 2 gangs are at each others throats, they can issue the advisories to avoid these places, not simply, to avoid wearing gang colors in these areas. Just about every color is associated with a gang, not just red or blue. There is no such thing as neutral gang colors. Purple, brown, black, green, and if you really want to get specific, even lime green is tied to a gang.

[rob]

i used to think california was a cool place to live and visit but all the murders that occur day in and day out have killed no pun intended my idealistic ideas of the whole GODforsaken place

-----------------------------------
they are talking about Los Angeles and a small area in L.A. - not the whole state of California. Get a brain ! But by all means - please stay away from California and help reduce the surplus population.

[andre]

An earlier comment stated that California visa vie Los Angeles is not a safe place, I reject that thought. I believe that there are people albeit the minority of the populace, that have become local terrorist. These local terrorist are no different than those that we tend to believe are only Muslim fundamentalist. They are not educated, hence they hold their neighborhoods hostage with their fighting for dirt/turf, which generally they do not own, and maybe the parents do via the paying of taxes. So I do not digress, the turf fights are generally over old history but it is always tied to illegal activities. Since one is not highly educated, they resort to only their nook in the neighborhood. These terrorist are funded by selling drugs, prostitution and larcenies such as stolen vehicles, home robberies and armed robberies.

Do not wait for local or state government leaders to handle the issue, which the parents themselves have turned a blind eye to. Parents need to raise their children they brought into the world 24/7. The buck stops there. Higher education leads to better conflict resolution skills, better paying jobs, mobility in life and the ability to have better offspring. Every parent desires to see that their children have a better life-style than their own. This is achievable by any race, creed or color. It all starts with responsibility.

[renee]

It is really sad that my 14 year old nephew was gunned down like that. He does have a big family that loves him. And want justice. These murders are senseless. My brother should not have to bury his SON.

[jojo]

"“I’ve been in this division 13 years and they’ve been shooting each other the entire time.”
apparently, not as fast or as accurately as possible...
Pretty Satanic to shoot a young mom on Christmas...

[90caliber]

Me, I'm a black man who is starting to believe there is some validity in the theory of eugenics. Most of these murderers are foaled by poor minority mothers. Do the mothers of these killers bear some culpability? We law-abiding taxpayers are just sitting ducks for these wolves on the prowl looking for a victim. Maybe in addition to locking up the bad fruit we ought to tear the tree out by its roots. I am just fed up.

[gern]

I'm glad the Republicans are wasting no time in leaping onto this story and writing more blinkered, race-baiting nonsense.

[syscom3]

Mister Chris; I know what you are saying. In the Homicide Report (a blog this newspaper has) I do speak the truth and am frequently called a racist. PC group think has stifled debate on this subject and the many causes of it.

Until the attitudes of those who live in these killing field neighborhoods change, and they stop electing the same do nothing "blame everyone else" politicians; then nothing will ever change.

[gern]

Use the LA Times' map feature to see 492 murders within 4 miles of Gramercy Park since 2007: it's a war.

It is time for the Feds to treat these "warring gangs" as terrorists, bring in the heavy armored divisions, and go house to house, arresting and cleaning neighborhoods out.

The fantasy is that it is one gang member taking out another gang member, and we can all "enjoy" this "deserved" retribution, but the reality is that most of these victims were bystanders and in the wrong place at the wrong time (like Kashmier James).

The people who live in these areas are powerless to stop the violence. If bodies were piling up like this in Beverly Hills, you better believe something would be done to stop the violence, post haste.

Maybe new governor Jerry Brown will take this problem seriously.

[Strait Black]

To all the people whining about the black leaders not playing police. Where are you. Come out of your red lined neighborhoods, and stop the violence. This is just another case of poor killers, killing other poor people. This is not about color this is about economics. It's part of the master plan to kill off minorities by drugs, murder, and diseases. It's not coincidental.

[Bob Johnson]

Until the people of CA get a grip on their courage, hire professional mercenaries to track down and execute every single member of these gangs - shoot them dead wherever they stand - there will be no peace or place safe on the streets of LA. These gang banging scum don't deserve to live as they are just rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth sick dogs that need to be put down. Unfortunately not enough people once care to make a difference, even knowing they could very well be next.

[DLH]

The problems are young black and latin dudes who instead of fist fighting are picking up guns and killing each other for any kind of reason. In the old days, a fight would happen and somebody goes home with a busted lip or a black eye but not dead. Now, they are just shooting each other down. The homes might look good on the outside but, inside there is a lot of violence and problems. Some of these homes, mom, dad and other family members are gang members. I agree that school and education is a big part of breaking this cycle. Parents have to start raising there children right instead of putting them in front of a TV or video game. Why is your son or daughter coming home with D's and F's or ditching. If the parents don't give a damn, the school don't either.

[Gc]

its between the eight trey gangster crips vs rollin 90s.

[nam vet]

I moved from glendale in 1996 and never looked back. The last time I was in LA area was 1985 and I do not intent to return. Not Northern Cal is safer but it is a nicer environment to bring up kids.