‘He wanted to be independent’

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Twenty-five year old Emitt Love Jr. knew struggle.

At the age of 8, Love’s mother left. His father was in prison. Love’s grandmother took him in.

A year later, his mother took him back, but it only lasted a few months. She left again, and Love was placed in a foster home. Then his father was released from prison and Love moved in with him at age 10.

Six years later, his father lost his job and house. Love moved in with his aunt in Bellflower. He attended Bellflower High School and ran track, said the father, Emitt Love Sr., interviewed by phone.

After high school, Love moved in with his older brother. A roomate skipped out on rent, and the brothers were evicted.

From then on, Love roamed from house to house. He wanted to be independent, the father said. Love worked for a year at CVS, the drug store chain. He was trying to make it as a hip-hop/rap artist, the father said. He had a rap group called Street Roamers with his two cousins and friend. His music moniker was ‘E-Nuff.’

Love was at the bus stop on Century Boulevard near Vermont Avenue waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up late on June 1, according to Love’s friend. Authorities said a black man approached and shot Love at about 10:45 p.m., then fled in a dark-colored vehicle south on Vermont Avenue.

Photo: On Monday afternoon Love’s cousin and a friend, kneeling, made a short stop at the bus bench in Athens where Love had been sitting before he was shot to death.