Connie Annadell Cajulis, a 53-year-old whitefemale, died Tuesday, May 24, in West Hills, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Jose Lopez, a 30-year-old Latinomale, died Tuesday, May 24, in East Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Brett Peabody has coached college football for 14 years in South Los Angeles and Long Beach, and he's learned that sometimes his student-athletes need more than grit on the field; they need it to survive their everyday lives.

Kejon Atkins, 22, had it. But it still wasn't enough.

"Here's a young black man just walking down the street in the wrong side of town. ... It's terrible, just terrible," Peabody said.

Atkins was near his Willowbrook home, walking along East 126th Street at Wilmington Avenue, when two cars pulled up and someone shot him just before noon on July 23, 2015. 

"You can't help where you grow up," Peabody said. "You live where you can afford to live, and in Southern California, it's not easy."

Atkins played football for Mayfair High School in Lakewood and met Peabody, who was a coach at Los Angeles Harbor College. Atkins followed Peabody to Long Beach City College the following year. 

"We have a lot of kids from a lot of different neighborhoods, and Kejon got along with everybody," said Peabody, who is also a teacher at Long Beach. "He always had a smile on his face; that's the biggest thing. He was a good, down-to-earth kid, polite, respectful and coachable. When we heard he passed, we were all heartbroken."

Atkins got on the roster for Long Beach, but he never played. "When he came to practice, he worked really hard and had a good amount of talent. He could have been a scholarship kid, but it was tough because he couldn't be there consistently enough. He had to go to work, or whatever else was happening at the time. He had to make ends meet."

Peabody lost another promising athlete on Sept. 16, 2010, when Vicenson "Vinny" Edwards, 24, was shot a few minutes after he drove away from practice, near Pacific Coast Highway and Figueroa Street in Wilmington.

"He was a reformed gang member on a roll, doing great things at school," Peabody said. 

"He was targeted and murdered. They pulled up alongside him and unloaded into him. My receiver coach was just two cars behind him when it happened, and we were all at the hospital as he died. ... They got the guy, thank God." 

Omar Rendon, then 27, was charged with murder, seven counts of assault with a firearm, three counts of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon in September 2010, according to records from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. A jury convicted Rendon on all counts in June 2012, and he was sentenced to 198 years in state prison. 

Atkins, like Edwards, seemed determined to improve his life, Peabody said. "We see it so many times — sports is the carrot, the lure, but then comes their education, and that's their saving grace," he said. 

"I work with an amazing set of young men who were dealt a crappy set of hands, but once you see them embrace education, a lot more succeed than fail. It's really sad because Kejon could have been one of those kids, because he was obviously bright and had a good future."

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of Atkins' killers. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

A Lakewood man pleaded not guilty May 18 in the January shooting death of Andrew Gregory Lee Bender III, a former Long Beach Poly High School football player.

Anthony King pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, with allegations that he used a gun to commit the crime and acted to benefit a gang, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. 

King, a 36-year-old black man, is accused of shooting Bender, 19, on Jan. 27 in the 8500 block of Cedar Street in Bellflower.

Bender and a friend had left a store around 9 a.m. when an assailant ran up behind them and "basically executed Mr. Bender," said L.A. County Sheriff's Det. Eduardo Aguirre. Bender's friend was uninjured. 

Bender was taken to a hospital, where he died 13 days later, nine days shy of his 20th birthday.

King is affiliated with the Atlantic Drive Crips, and Bender was involved with the rival Neighborhood Compton Crips, Aguirre said. Investigators believe the two men had fought in the last year, he said, and that King was retaliating.

"Their two neighborhoods basically butt up to each other," Aguirre said. "These gangs have been feuding for at least 20 years." 

But Bender's mother, Tiffany Moore, said her son "fought the fight" to stay out of gang life. She thinks his father's past gang involvements came back to haunt their son. "He used to be a bad actor. He isn't any more. He's working, trying to do good. He doesn't want to go back to jail, but it's like a constant battle."

Their son, Andrew, was born and raised in Compton, she said, "and I would be lying to say he wasn't part of that clique. But he wasn't the type who stood on the corner with his pants hanging down, doing nothing. He was busy doing things all the time. He was playing football. He was going to school. He had a job."

Moore said she moved her family out of Compton when Bender was in 10th grade, because he wanted to get away from the violence. "He couldn't even get off the bus coming home from football practice," she said, without being harassed by gang members.

Bender started playing sports when he was 5, Moore said, and when he discovered football he never looked back, sometimes playing in two leagues at once. 

His goal was to become a professional athlete, Moore said, so they moved to an area where he could enroll at Long Beach Poly, which has one of the top football programs in the state. He joined the junior varsity team as a fullback in 2012,  but Moore said he developed back problems in 2013, his senior year, and could no longer play.

After graduating in 2014, he attended Long Beach City College but stopped because he needed to work, she said. He got a job as a security guard and was making enough money to help support his two little sisters and prepare for the baby he and his girlfriend, Cyana Stephens, are expecting in June. 

Stephens and Bender met in high school, when they were sophomores. She was dating someone else then, but she says Bender told her, "Someday you're going to be my girlfriend, and we'll have a family." They became friends, she said, eventually began dating and had been together since.

"He was my best friend," she said. "He was loving and funny. If you were down, he'd just do something goofy to bring you up. He was also very loyal.... That's why he had so many friends. His vibe was very special." 

Bender had been staying with his mother recently, Stephens said, but the plan was for her to pick him up Jan. 27, and take him back for good to the rental they shared. 

"He called me the night before. He was with his friends, and he asked if I would come get him that night, but I had been working all day, and I was just too tired," she said. "I woke up with a bad feeling and tried calling him the next morning, but he didn't answer his phone. Then his mom called and said, 'Andrew got shot,' and I was shocked."

Moore says she tried to keep her son away from Compton, but the week he died, Bender had a couple of days off work, and he wanted to visit his friends.

"He'd been going to work at 7 at night and getting off at 4 in the morning," Moore said. "I said, 'Andrew, you're working and doing good,' but he said, 'Mama, let me be a man.' He wanted to spread his wings, but he never made it back home."

King is being held in lieu of $2.4 million bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 7 in Department J of Los Angeles County Superior Court in Norwalk.

Photos: (Top) Andrew Bender at his high school graduation in June 2014. (Middle) Bender loved football so much he played in school and in community leagues, says his mother Tiffany Moore. Credit: Family photos provided by Cyana Stephens

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Police are looking for information about a white cargo van that is believed to be the getaway vehicle in a shooting Sunday that killed a 34-year-old man.

On May 22, Julio Cesar Pena was on his way home when he was shot in the 400 block of Gulf Avenue, said Los Angeles Police Officer George Romulo. The assailant stepped off the sidewalk and fired multiple rounds at Pena, who was on a motorcycle.

Romulo said the gunman may have fled in a 2015 or 2016 Dodge ProMaster van. A still image taken from surveillance shows the vehicle.

“There’s a high probability he went inside,” Romulo said of the gunman. “Regardless, it’s a van we definitely need to get more information on.”

Romulo said police are also looking for more witnesses. So far, the suspect is described only as a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information is asked to call Romulo at (310) 726-7880 or Det. Matt Maffei at (310) 726-7880. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @nicolesantacruz and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photos: (Top) A still image taken from surveillance shows what police believe to be the getaway vehicle in a May 22 shooting. Credit: LAPD. (Middle) A Dodge ProMaster van.

Iana Kasian, a 30-year-old whitefemale, died Thursday, May 26, in West Hollywood, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Police recently released a photograph of a person of interest in the shooting death of a 37-year-old man at a gas station near the edge of downtown Los Angeles in April.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. April 12, Sergio Beltran was walking back and forth between a gas station and a taco shop near South Central Avenue and East Washington Boulevard, said LAPD Officer Deen Alcaraz.

It’s unknown whether Beltran got into an altercation before he was shot, but police believe that someone walked up to him and shot him at the gas station, Alcaraz said.

The shooter may have jumped into a small, four-door sedan.

Police are looking for additional witnesses.

“People are afraid to come forward it they were there,” Alcaraz said. He said that the nearby taco restaurant is crowded and the gas station is fairly busy about that time.

“It’s just a matter of somebody saying, ‘Hey, this is what I saw,’” Alcaraz said.

There is also a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

Beltran was a married father of two who lived in Boyle Heights. He worked in construction.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD's Newton Division detectives at (323) 846-6556.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @nicolesantacruz and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photo: A surveillance still taken from the area of the shooting shows a man police are hoping to identify. Credit: LAPD

Martin Mendiola, a 18-year-old Latinomale, died Friday, May 27, in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Oscar Arias, a 23-year-old Latinomale, died Friday, May 27, after being shot in Paramount, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Hugo Romero, a 26-year-old Latino, died Sunday, May 29, after he was shot in the 22000 block of Joliet Avenue in Hawaiian Gardens, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Romero, who lived in Bellflower, was visiting friends in his former neighborhood around midnight, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Eddie Hernandez. As the friends stood in the street talking, a dark-colored sedan drove up and someone inside began firing, Hernandez said. 

Romero was hit by the gunfire and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:23 a.m. with multiple gunshot wounds, according to coroner’s records. No one else was injured, Hernandez said. 

Investigators have no other information about the attackers, except that the car was last seen driving north on Joliet, Hernandez said. Investigators don’t know if the shooter was aiming for Romero or just shooting at the group, he said. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.  

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Hilario Salazar, a 25-year-old Latinomale, died Monday, May 30, in East Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

A 36-year-old man was charged May 24 in the killing of his grandmother, who was beaten to death with a hammer in May in her Lake View Terrace home, police said.

Local authorities detained Joseph "Joey" Kushner in the Bakersfield area May 20, and detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department brought him back to the Los Angeles area, LAPD Det. Rich Wheeler said.

Kushner was charged with one count of murder along with an allegation that he used a hammer to kill 78-year-old Armida Custodio, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. An arraignment has been continued to June 9, officials said.

Investigators think Custodio was killed between May 2 and May 4.

On May 4, a family member requested a welfare check for Custodio, and officers went to her home in the 11300 block of Terra Vista Way, police said.

Coroner's records show that Custodio was discovered on her bedroom floor. She died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

Two days after the killing, police held a news conference and said they were looking for Kushner, who they said was the last person to see Custodio alive.

At some point, Kushner called his father and told him where he was, Wheeler said.

The father then called police and relayed the information, the detective said.

Wheeler said that in an interview with investigators, Kushner "confessed to the crime, but he claimed it was in self-defense."

"Her injuries are not consistent with his claim of self-defense," Wheeler said.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photo: Joseph "Joey" Kushner is shown in a photo displayed at an LAPD news conference. Credit: KTLA-TV

A man wanted in the fatal shooting of his pregnant girlfriend in Los Angeles in April was arrested Sunday after he became lost and mistakenly drove to the San Ysidro border crossing with a woman he recently met at a strip club, authorities said.

Philip Patrick Policarpio, 39, was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in May after he was charged with murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend in East Hollywood.

Policarpio told border agents he was a Mexican citizen who had made a wrong turn when he was stopped at the San Ysidro crossing around 4:45 p.m., according to a news release issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. He was carrying several pieces of identification and told border agents he “intended not to return to the U.S.,” according to Dierdre Fike, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office.

Policarpio had pulled into a lane used by low-risk, pre-approved drivers who take part in the CBP’s “trusted traveler” program, said Sidney Aki, port director at the San Ysidro crossing.

“He was very vague in regards to providing information,” Aki said at a morning news conference to discuss the arrest. “That of course sets off red flags among us.”

After scanning his fingerprints, the agents noticed a warrant had been issued for Policarpio’s arrest in connection with a Los Angeles homicide. Fike said he tried to flee but was captured quickly.

Policarpio was traveling with a 22-year-old Mexican woman whom he had recently met at a strip club, according to Fike. She was released and allowed to return to Mexico after agents determined she did not have a legal right to enter the U.S., according to the release.

Policarpio initially was detained Sunday on a federal warrant accusing him of fleeing prosecution, though the FBI expects to drop that charge so he can be immediately prosecuted on murder charges in the deaths of his girlfriend and her unborn child.

Policarpio is accused of killing 32-year-old Lauren Elaine Olguin, during an April 12 gathering in East Hollywood, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

After bursting into a room where Olguin was playing cards, Policarpio became angry and struck his girlfriend several times before shooting her in the forehead, court records show.

Police recently said they believed Policarpio might have fled to Las Vegas after the shooting, but he hadn’t been seen until Sunday, authorities said.

Evidence gathered Sunday indicated Policarpio had been living in the Tijuana area in recent weeks, the FBI said.

At the time of the April killing, Policarpio was on parole stemming from a 2001 assault conviction, the FBI said. In that case, authorities said, Policarpio fired several rounds at an occupied vehicle in Burbank in June 2000, seriously injuring a man and a woman.

He fled to the Philippines later that year, but was deported back to the U.S. after he was arrested there. Policarpio served 14 years in prison in the assault case, and was released in May 2015.

Jerilyn Olguin, the victim’s mother, said she was surprised when a police officer called her on Sunday to let her know Policarpio had been captured.

“I was very relieved,” she said. “I was very worried he was going to hurt somebody else.”

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photo: Gerilyn Olguin, mother of Lauren Olguin, walks past her daughter's photo at the conclusion of a press conference at the FBI Los Angeles field office regarding Sunday's arrest of fugitive Philip Patrick Policarpio, who was charged with murder in her shooting death. Credit: Al Seib, Los Angeles Times

Actor Michael Andrew Jace was convicted Tuesday of fatally shooting his wife, April Denise Jace, in front of their two young sons, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

A jury of six women and six men deliberated about two hours before finding Michael Jace, 53, guilty of second-degree murder in April Jace's May 19, 2014, death. Jurors also found true the special allegation that Jace used a firearm to commit the crime. 

Michael Jace, who portrayed a police officer in the FX series “The Shield,” was upset that his wife wanted a divorce and believed she was seeing someone else, prosecutors said in the week-long trial.

On the evening of the killing, Jace waited for his wife in their home, prosecutors said. About 8 p.m., when she arrived with their sons after the boys' baseball practice, Michael Jace shot her once in the back, a detective told The Times at the time of the killing. 

Michael Jace then taunted his wife and shot her two more times in the legs in front of their sons, who were 8 and 5 at the time, prosecutors said. 

Jace's 10-year-old son testified that he heard his father say, "'If you like running, then run to heaven,'" before firing the second time, according to an Associated Press report. 

Jace then called 911 and told the operator that he shot his wife, according to evidence presented at trial. Jace later told detectives that he also planned to kill himself but could not do it. 

Her body was found inside the couple’s home along with their two children, who were unharmed. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:55 p.m., according coroner's records. 

At the time of the killing, neighbors expressed shock and said they never saw or suspected any violence in the home. "All I heard coming out of that household were giggles," longtime neighbor Shirley Harding told The Times.

Michael Jace will return to court June 10 for sentencing. He faces 40 years to life in state prison. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

A man on May 26 pleaded not guilty to murder in the shooting death of a Lancaster man during a street melee nearly four years ago, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

Cedric Carl Burton Jr., 30, is accused of shooting Brandy Houston, 21, on Nov. 29, 2012. Burton also faces the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait as well as gun and gang allegations. 

Three other men were convicted in 2014 for their involvement in the incident. Terrell Henderson, 24, Randy “Bam” Sullivan, 38, and Joshua Lockett, 23, were found guilty of second-degree murder and are serving prison sentences. 

On Nov. 29, 2012, Houston and his girlfriend got into an argument, and she called her sister for a ride away from the residence the couple shared. Her sister sent her then-boyfriend, Henderson, who arrived with Sullivan and Lockett, according to testimony from the 2014 trial. 

The three me got into an argument with Houston, and a few hours later they returned with Burton. A fight involving about a dozen people then broke out, according to the district attorney's office. 

During the fight, Burton, also known as Dirty Devil, walked through the crowd toward Houston and shot him 12 times, killing him, the prosecutor said. 

The day before Burton was arraigned, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested  him while he attended a hearing on an unrelated case at the Antelope Valley courthouse. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on June 9. 

If convicted, he could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on whether to seek capital punishment will be made later. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Jesus Flores-Garcia, a 49-year-old Latinomale, died Monday, May 30, after being shot in Palmdale, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Dermelle Davenport, a 51-year-old blackmale, died Wednesday, June 1, in Hyde Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

William Scott Klug, a 39-year-old whitemale, died Wednesday, June 1, in Westwood, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Nicole Walker stepped up to the podium at downtown Los Angeles' Hall of Justice as tears filled her eyes.

The 25-year-old described the pain of losing her older brother, a man she said was changing his life.

The prospect, she said, of turning 26, the same age as her brother at the time of his killing, “has weighed heavily on me,” she said.

“He was my first best friend,” she said.

Walker and her family are still reeling from the loss of 26-year-old Christopher Walker, who was shot and killed at a burger stand in Altadena on Oct. 30, 2014.

Authorities, who said they have “exhausted all leads,” announced a $20,000 reward at a news conference Wednesday. Specifically, they are looking for anyone who was in the area at the time of the shooting or lived nearby.

About 4:30 p.m. that day, Walker ordered food at Fair Oaks Burger, then sat down to wait with his back toward Fair Oaks Boulevard. A black man, between 18 and 24 years old with a medium build, got out of a light-colored sedan and shot at Walker, then fled.

“There were definitely people at the restaurant besides Christopher,” said L.A. County Sheriff's Sgt. Chaffey Shepherd, who is investigating the killing.

Although Walker had troubles in his past, he had recently returned from living in Arizona to be closer to family. He held a full time job in marketing and was taking care of his two children.

“We ask for your help,” said Richard Walker, Christopher’s father. “This has to stop.”

After their son's death, Richard and his wife, Ursula Walker, have questioned why there isn't more outrage regarding black-on-black killings. 

"There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Christophers in graves today," Ursula Walker said.

On work days, Christopher arrived at his parents' house by 5:50 a.m. and would drive with his mother to downtown L.A., where the two worked just blocks away from each other.

Nicole Walker remembers when her big brother turned 25. She posted a status on Facebook, saying she was proud. “He had the will to do better,” she said. “And he was doing better.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @nicolesantacruz and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photo: Nicole Walker speaks at a news conference announcing a reward for information in her brother's killing. Credit: Nicole Santa Cruz / Los Angeles Times

Darnell Darron Johnson, a 22-year-old blackmale, died Wednesday, June 1, in Lynwood, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.