Idaho football player slain at Brewery Lofts in Lincoln Heights
Ken McRoyal was a walk-on at the University of Idaho last year, but the wide receiver who was slain at a party in Los Angeles early Sunday had fit right in on the Vandals football team.
“It's a devastating loss,” football coach Robb Akey said in statement. “We've lost a brother, a teammate, a family member. But more importantly, a momma lost her son today. All of our prayers go to the family that they can be strong in their healing from this tragedy.”
McRoyal, 22, was shot in the upper body at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday at a party at the Brewery Lofts in Lincoln Heights and was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. A second man was shot in the arm.
Police are seeking four male suspects who were involved in a argument with McRoyal and fled after one fired the shots. No arrests have been made, officials said Monday morning.
McRoyal’s friends gathered at a vigil Sunday night at El Camino College, where he played football before transferring to Idaho to join his cousin and Carson High School teammate, Dominique Blackman, according to KTLA-TV and news reports from Idaho.
Originally from New Orleans, McRoyal and his family were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and moved to Southern California, Blackman said.
“He was just the epitome of someone who earned it,” he said. “I mean, you know, look at his lifestyle. He survived Hurricane Katrina.”
McRoyal had recently learned he would receive a scholarship for his upcoming senior year, which he hoped would lead to a career in the NFL.
McRoyal's girlfriend, Latrisse Williams, said he was in Los Angeles to see her and their 1-year-old daughter.
“He just wanted to be a good dad. He wanted a connection with his daughter," Williams said, according to KTLA-TV.
The Brewery Lofts, in the 600 block of Moulton Avenue, are part of the Brewery Arts Complex, the site of a former Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery.
Hundreds of artists now work and live in what were once industrial buildings.
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-- Kim Christensen and KTLA-TV
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