George Hang, a 17-year-old Asianmale, died Monday, July 27, after being shot in Rosemead, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Mario Muro, a 32-year-old Latinomale, died Sunday, July 26, after being shot in Pacoima, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Twitter and Instagram were filled over the past week with alarming hashtags like #100days100nights after a gang reportedly vowed 100 days of violence to avenge the death of a man who was killed in South Los Angeles in mid-July.

Now, pastors in the community are trying to get a different campaign to take effect: 100 days of peace and prayer.

In the wake of the frightening social media postings and a surge in South L.A. shootings, a group of pastors met Thursday night to talk about the tension.

“We have to do something immediately,” the Rev. Lewis Logan said at the meeting.

In 2005, Logan opened the doors of his former church for gang-intervention efforts. On Thursday night, Logan pushed the meeting’s attendees to go into the hot spots in South L.A. this weekend.

“We are the change we’re looking for,” said Logan, who is pastor of a church in Inglewood.

Logan said, “Violence doesn’t take off a weekend, so it’s important to get out sooner rather than later.

“It says we’re not afraid.”

By midweek, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said that recent shootings were related to long-standing feuds between rival gangs — not social media.

The Rev. Winford Bell, who called the social media campaign a “lie from the depths of hell,” acknowledged that pastors need to get out of the church and onto the street.

“The reality is, we have to go to them,” said Bell, who heads a nonprofit anti-violence group.

Ben “Taco” Owens, a gang intervention worker and church elder, said he’s heard complaints that churches aren’t connected to their communities.

He applauds efforts to get pastors on the streets and sees their role as a supportive one — to reach out and say, “We’re here.”

“I think it’s a great idea. I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s time,” he said. “I think they’re needed now because we need a spiritual component to the peace movement.”

Some members of the clergy have made anti-violence efforts a priority.

Bishop K. Donnell Smith regularly attends vigils, gets out of bed to tend to family members at crime scenes and speaks at funerals for homicide victims.

Smith, a former member of the Crips, says he was a gang intervention worker before he began preaching in 2006.

He talks to gang members about turning their lives around. He says he’s heard community members lament the lack of pastors who stand up and talk about violence in their communities.

“There are people who care,” he said. “If God can change me, he can change anybody.”

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: A group of pastors and other community members meet Thursday, July 30, 2015, at Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in the wake of #100days100nights. Credit: Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times

Diedre Cook sat in her living room surrounded by photos of her family, faltering as she tried to explain about her dead son Kody.

Without a word, her husband, William "Kevin" Cook, stopped pacing and brought her a handful of tissues.

It is still difficult for the couple to talk about -- and comprehend -- the shooting death of their 18-year-old son last month blocks from their Gardena home.

"It didn't matter how I raised him, or how much I loved him, if someone else's child who lived with very different values could just wipe it away," Diedre Cook said.

Two 17-year-olds have been charged in Cook's killing -- one on suspicion of murder and one on suspicion of accessory to murder -- according to prosecutors. Police say that as Cook was dropping a friend off at his home July 26, he exchanged heated words with two teenagers before driving away.

Twenty minutes later, the same boys allegedly walked up to Cook's car as he was parking outside a Baskin Robbins and shot him multiple times. Police said that Cook didn't know his alleged attackers, who fled after the shooting and were arrested 10 days later.

The suspects have not been identified because they are juveniles. Both turn 18 in the fall, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. A hearing Aug. 11 will determine whether the suspect who is charged with murder will be tried as an adult.

“What has your life looked like if you would even consider taking someone else’s life over an argument, at the age of 17?” Diedre Cook said. “I just don't understand this. There has to be a reason that this life is gone. It’s incompatible to have all this love for my child close to the anger I have for the people who took him away from me … it just feels wrong.”

Diedre Cook, a mother of four, is a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology who home schooled Kody rather than send him to local schools, around kids and lifestyles she didn’t approve of. The two were very close, she says, and when Kody started rapping, he took the stage name “Lecturre,” because lectures are how she parents. 

“I’m always talking to my kids about thinking different than the world,” she said. “I taught Kody not to look at the surface, but for the deeper meaning. We had very old-fashioned values for our children."

They emphasized manners and respect, Diedre Cook said. Kody even had a curfew; until he was 16, he had to be in before dark. His parents described their son as charismatic, creative and independent. They said that even when he was young, he drew people to him and loved to make others laugh.

The family tried to honor Kody's humor and style in the shrine they created near their front door. His ashes are there in a wooden urn, etched with a photo Diedre took on a family cruise to Alaska, less than two weeks before he died. 

Surrounding the ashes are mementos like the microphone Kody used for recording and the Batman pajamas he wore around town because he thought they were funny.

Kody may have been home schooled, but he met people everywhere:  Through his charity work with the Free Masons’ Demolay youth group, his siblings’ school functions and working at the new Fuddruckers restaurant in Santa Monica.

But Kody's passion was his music. Kody liked to protect her, Diedre Cook said, so he was shy about sharing his songs because they had curse words.

"He never cursed around me," she said.

Kody was determined to be a rapper, said his musical partner and close friend Javon Bryant, who used the stage name Javon Beretta. He and Kody were the creative force behind their group, Political Zoo.

They grew up just two houses apart, on a cul de sac of well-kept homes, and made most of their music in their bedrooms, far from the hard life featured in many rap songs. They recorded many songs, but were proudest of their most recent release in April on YouTube, called “Golden.”

The lyrics, written by Kody, are explicit in places, with hard talk about taking over, and the jarring pop of gunfire, but Javon says Kody meant taking over the music world, not rival gangs.

“He didn’t have guns and he wasn’t a thug,” Javon says. “It’s weird now, hearing him rap about guns and then getting shot,” but at the time, the song didn’t seem ominous.

“It just sounded good," Javon said.

Kody was “an amazing person, the best friend I’ve ever had,” Javon said, but even he was surprised by the size of his funeral. Nearly 300 people attended, Diedre Cook said, crowding into the lobby and along the walls because there were no more seats.

"We didn’t know half the people who came, people of all colors and ages, for a kid who was only 18 years old," she said.

It was just part of Kody’s vibe, said his Demolay friend Habib “Jake” Jahsham. The funeral really captured Kody's spirit, he said, through all the jokes and stories people wanted to share.

“I believe we all have a vibe, you know, we all emit a frequency, and Kody was one of those people who just had a higher frequency," Habib said. “You could feel how happy he was and how much he wanted to be with you. He was one of those people you always wanted to be around. I’m so glad I was able to have him in my life.”

-- Jeanette Marantos

Photo, above: The Cook's living room, with mementos of Kody. Credit: Jeanette Marantos, For The Times. Photo, below: Kody Cook on a cruise to Alaska. Credit: Diedre Cook

Joe Nava, a 44-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Saturday, Aug. 1, in the 11400 block of Lindale Street in Norwalk, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Sheriff’s deputies went to the scene at 1:10 p.m. after receiving a call about an assault with a deadly weapon. 

When deputies arrived, they found Nava inside his home with gunshot wounds in his upper torso, according to a department news release. Nava was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:19 p.m., according to coroner's records.

Nava lived in the house with his sister and her boyfriend, who was detained for questioning by investigators, Lt. Steve Jauch said.

The boyfriend, Jose Nunez, a 44-year-old Latino, was arrested on suspicion of murder later that afternoon and booked into jail. 

Jauch refused to discuss what witnesses heard prior to the shooting, or what Nunez said during questioning.

“Based on what he told us during the interview, coupled with witness statements, we felt we had probable cause to book him for murder,” Jauch said. 

Investigators also found a rifle at the scene that they believe was used in the shooting, Jauch said. Nunez is not the owner of the rifle, Jauch said, but he would not comment further on who owned the gun. 

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

— Jeanette Marantos

Eugenio Soto-Palomares, a 49-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Sunday, Aug. 2, in the 12200 block of 224th Street in Hawaiian Gardens, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene about 9:20 a.m. 

When they arrived, they found Soto-Palomares in the driver's seat of a green compact car with a gunshot wound in his upper torso, Lt. Steve Jauch said. 

Soto-Palomares was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:20 a.m., according to coroner's records. 

It’s not clear whether Soto-Palomares was parked or driving when he was shot.  He could have been shot and driven some distance before he died, Jauch said. 

“He was a local resident, but he did not live where that car was found,” Jauch said. 

There is no indication that anyone was riding in the car when Soto-Palomares was shot, Jauch said. He would not comment on whether the car was running when deputies arrived. 

Investigators don’t have any suspect information, Jauch said. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Jeanette Marantos 

A father who stabbed his 6-year-old son to death last year was sentenced Aug. 3 to 16 years to life in prison.

Alejandro Sanchez, a 39-year-old Latino, pleaded no contest in June to second-degree murder and using a knife to kill Nathan Sanchez inside a small white trailer behind their home in South L.A. in June 2014.

Sanchez was under the influence of methamphetamine when he killed his son, prosecutors said. Authorities said Sanchez was found standing in his front yard on East 88th Street, speaking incoherently.

Nathan’s body was found on a bed inside a trailer tucked behind a home in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood.

Nathan had been stabbed with a kitchen knife and later died at St. Francis Medical Center.

Sanchez’s sister, Yolanda Sanchez-Santoyo, told The Times last year that she was stunned by the boy's death.

“He was my nephew and I loved him very much,” Sanchez said.

-- Joseph Serna

Three young men wanted for the South El Monte firebombing that killed two 17-year-old teenagers and an 18-year-old mother of two were found hiding in Mexico July 25 and extradited to California to face capital murder charges.

Mario Godina Jr., 19, Estevan Manuel Castillo, 20, and German Monrreal, 20, are scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 13 at the El Monte Branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Department 6, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

Co-defendant Robert Fuentes, 19, who was arrested shortly after the April 25 fire, faces the same capital murder charges and will also be arraigned that day. 

The four men are also charged with one count each of arson causing great bodily injury and use of an explosive to injure. They are accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail into the El Cheque tire shop shortly before 5:30 a.m. 

The resulting fire destroyed the tire shop and killed the three friends sleeping inside: Rodrigo Gonzalez, 17, whose father Ezequiel owns the business; Destiny Monique Aguirre, 18; and Christopher Jimenez, 17. 

Aguirre’s mother, Lena, said family members are happy the three fugitives have been caught, “but it’s still like really sad because it can’t bring Destiny back,” she said. “I think the reward made the difference, yes. And I’ll be there for the trial, because I’m hoping to get some answers.”

Felony arrest warrants were issued May 19 for Godina, Castillo and Monreal, but it wasn’t until the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the city of South El Monte joined forces to offer a $30,000 reward in early July that investigators got a tip that led to their arrest.

“We think the reward played a significant role in developing the information that led to their arrests,” sheriff's Lt. Victor Lewandowski said. 

Through help from the United States Marshal’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Taskforce and members of the Mexican State Police in Jalisco, the three men were arrested without incident in two small towns in the state of Jalisco, Lewandowski said. 

They were flown back to Los Angeles International Airport the following day, on July 26, where they were met by homicide detectives. They were booked into Los Angeles County Jail, where they are being held without bail. 

Investigators are still interested in talking to a male “person of interest” who allegedly was seen with the suspects before the firebombing, Lewandowski said. 

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

— Jeanette Marantos 

Adrian Alexander Hernandez, a 17-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Tuesday, Aug. 4, near the intersection of Terra Bella Street and Bromont Avenue in Pacoima, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

The incident began about 9 p.m. when Los Angeles police officers received a call about a shooting, according to a department news release.

When the officers arrived, they found Hernandez and an 18-year-old woman with gunshot wounds, according to the news release. 

Investigators believe one or more people shot at the victims and then drove away, but there is no suspect or vehicle information, according to the news release.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:15 p.m., according to coroner’s records. The young woman was taken to a local hospital, where she was in stable condition, according to the news release. 

The intersection is in a residential neighborhood. 

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Foothill Division homicide detectives at (818) 834-3115. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

— Jeanette Marantos  

Victor Alfonso Pacheco, a 25-year-old Latino, was found dead from blunt-force trauma Thursday, Aug. 6, in the 14900 block of Janetdale Street in Valinda, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies received a “person down” call at 3:20 a.m., according to a department news release. 

When they arrived, they found Pacheco lying in a dirt lot suffering from blunt-force trauma, according to the release.

The lot is in a residential neighborhood. 

Pacheco was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:43 a.m., according to coroner’s records. 

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

— Jeanette Marantos 

Derrick Lee Hunt, a 28-year-old blackmale, died Friday, Aug. 7, in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Jose Aragon, a 21-year-old Latinomale, died Saturday, Aug. 8, in Willowbrook, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Delshon Eugene Hayes Jr., a 23-year-old blackmale, died Sunday, Aug. 9, after being shot in Manchester Square, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Recently, South Los Angeles was in the spotlight after social media rumors promised 100 days and 100 nights of retaliation after a 27-year-old man was shot and killed there. The rumors turned out to be just that, but they came during a surge in gang violence. The Times' Nicole Santa Cruz sat down with the LAPD's top cop in South Los Angeles, Deputy Chief Bill Scott, to talk about gang violence, rumors and crime.

This year as a whole, the city is seeing a surge in violent crime. As a law enforcement leader, how do you approach a surge in crime?

A couple things — with the violent crime, that's of course a huge issue because we've had so many years where crime has been on the decline. The first objective for me as a leader is to get our folks to understand that we are in this for the long haul. ... Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in looking at what's happening right now that you lose perspective on the bigger picture and the bigger objective.

And that plays a lot into what the department and the chief of police, Chief Beck, is trying to do in terms of relationship-based policing, because when you address crime and spikes of violence on the short term, really the quickest and the most effective way to do that is to increase your enforcement and your suppression on those people who you think are engaging in that violent crime, particularly gangs in South Los Angeles.

But that too has a consequence, particularly for that community. There's so many people that have been in the criminal justice system and you don't want to harm the community by your policing tactics, so we have to have a balance.

Recently rumors of gang violence on social media spread fast to the streets, prompting fear in residents. How did you reach out to the community to get those rumors quashed?

The first thing we had to do was reach out to our own folks and make sure they understood what this post was, whether it was fact or fiction....That post went through the LAPD just as quickly as it went through the community.

The second thing is when the community, when they got hold of that post, it spread like wildfire. I was getting text messages and emails, and then by the time it got to the press it just really exponentially spread. One of the things that we said we needed to do right away was get the most accurate information out to the community that we could.

People were thinking that it was just out of control, Wild, Wild West, that people were dying on a daily basis, and that really wasn't the case. We did have a bad week that week, but really we only had one homicide — and I'm not minimizing: One death is one too many. But…people were thinking that people were just dying on every street corner in South Los Angeles, and that was far from the truth.

Secondly, we wanted to, as much as we could, vet this post. Is there any validity to it? Statistically, we knew it wasn't valid, because my understanding was that post came out on July 17, and we did not have a homicide every day from July 17 through the 25.

On Saturday (July 25) we had a huge gang funeral that morning....We had an incident at that funeral, and we didn't really know what that would do in terms of violence that night. A couple hours later, we had that homicide off 81st and Hoover, and initially everybody was thinking that might have been connected to the funeral.

What we're hearing now and based off the investigation, we don't think so. But that's the information that got out to the community. Shortly thereafter, we had a series of different shootings within a pretty close radius, three-, four-mile radius, which kind of fed into this whole 100 days, 100 nights thing, which kind of led to the urban legend of this post. We called a tactical alert.

A lot of people in the community heard "tactical alert" and thought all hell is breaking loose. And that really wasn't the case. We pooled resources into South L.A. from all over the city, but we did it for a number of reasons.

By that time, the fear factor had started to set in, and people were really afraid. We wanted them to see police officers out in the field, out in the community. We wanted them to know that the community is still safe.

From Saturday night at around midnight for the next few days, we didn't have hardly any incidents, particularly any gang-related incidents, so things quieted down very quickly, which was another indication that this 100 days, 100 nights thing wasn't a valid threat to the community.

How have you seen the department change its approach to how it deals with gangs over the past decade?

We've evolved, and it's been a transformation, really. Our strategies now, although we still have gang units, we still have Metropolitan Division, we still have to do suppression, we still have to do strategic enforcement and whatnot, but the other side of that is we have to have the community involved.

It's interesting that we may have seen a surge in Part Icrimes — aggravated assault, robberies and rapes — but we aren't seeing it in homicides.

It really is, and I think anecdotally, I think part of it is our model for addressing gang violence.... You definitely can't underscore medicine and technology and the lifesaving of ER rooms these days. But when you look at the rate decline of homicides, I think our gang model definitely plays into that as well.

How have you seen the community's attitude change with more focused national attention on police shootings?

That national dialogue is very intense; it's a very, very complex set of issues. But what it's done here in L.A. because of these relationships is, it's forced dialogue....

What we have going on in this city that I am so happy and proud of, is…we can sit down and I talk about it. When you can't do that, you have issues, serious issues. People don't feel like their voices are being heard.... And that's what leads to a lot of the civil unrest that we see. I think that's what has led to the civil unrest here in the past.

The interview has been edited for length.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: At a community meeting in South L.A. in 2013, from left, LAPD Deputy Chief Bob Green, Commander Bill Scott (now deputy chief), Chief Charlie Beck and Capt. Robert Arcos respond to questions. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

A few weeks ago, we asked readers what changes you would like to see on the Homicide Report. We heard from many of you, which is great, and we wanted to let you know what changes are already underway and what is planned.

One of the overwhelming requests you had was for photos of victims. One person wrote: "WE WANT PHOTOS!!! Please provide photos for as many victims as you can."

Photos can be key to humanizing victims on the site, and we're working to obtain as many as we can, from a variety of sources: The DMV, families and elsewhere. If you have an unaltered photo (no Instagram filters, please) of someone who was killed, please email it to us with your permission to publish it, along with information about who took the photo and when.

Many readers also requested the return of the photo gallery. We're looking at ways to bring that page back to present photos of victims in a way that's creative and easy-to-browse. 

Some changes we've already made are under-the-hood tweaks that should make it easier for you to explore the coroner's data and reporting we've compiled over the years. The first thing we've done is to compress homicide and neighborhood data. This can save several seconds of page load time, especially when loading all homicides. We hope longtime readers have already noticed the site loading faster.

One of the more visible changes coming soon will be improvements to the map. The large circles (the homicide "clusters" you're used to seeing) were used to deal with browser limitations when we relaunched the Homicide Report as a database in January 2014. Since then, technological advances have made it possible to depict the location of killings more accurately.

The new version of the map will represent each homicide as a single point, instead of as a cluster with dozens or hundreds of others. A number of other simplifications will make searching the website easier. 

Next on the priority list is improving the mobile site. Readers have pointed out that a lot of information available to readers using desktop or laptop computers is missing when you access the site from a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. For example, the mobile view doesn't include how many homicides are shown on the map nor does it allow filtering and searching. We know that more than half of our readers are on smartphones and other mobile devices, so we're committed to giving you a better mobile experience.

Other readers asked for us to identify the responding law enforcement agency (e.g., L.A. County Sheriff's Department, LAPD, Long Beach Police Department, etc.) for each homicide. We have that information, and it will be available to readers soon.

Now for the bad news. Readers made some requests that, although fascinating, would be impractical or even impossible to implement and ensure accuracy.

One of those was an idea to create "a map of all the 'alleged and presumed' gangs through out LA County starting with South LA." Our current map is based on U.S. Census-defined city and neighborhood boundaries and street addresses that come from public records. Gang territories are a different thing, of course. Gang boundaries change and are subject to opinion. There may be creative ways to track and map gang territories, but our focus, at least for now, is going to remain on the victims of homicide.

Another request has actually long been a goal of ours -- the ability to comprehensively follow cases through the investigation and prosecution process.

When a person is killed, the coroner assigns a case number. The investigative agency also assigns a case number, but the information is not easily pieced together to facilitate tracking it through the criminal justice system. When the case heads to court, yet another case number is assigned -- with the defendant as the focus, not the victim -- further complicating the process.

That said, readers may have noticed more follow-ups in recent months. We have redoubled our efforts to track cases from homicide, to arrest, to trial. We always welcome your help. If you know about a case that we can update, let us know.

And that goes for any topic. You, the readers, help make this site what it is. Always feel free to get in touch.

-- Armand Emamdjomeh

Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 71-year-old black man, was found dead Friday, Aug. 7 in the 2000 block of South Bonnie Brae Street in Westlake, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Jackson was found dead in his bedroom with stab wounds shortly before 2 p.m., said LAPD Det. Ray Martinez. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police have no suspects at this time, Martinez said. Jackson lived at an apartment complex for people with mental health issues.

Anyone with information is asked to call Rampart homicide detectives at (213) 484-3642. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Michael Robert Hannah, a 20-year-old Latinomale, died Saturday, Aug. 8, after being shot in Echo Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

The Times' Doug Smith on Monday examined the history -- and future -- of coroner's inquests into police shootings in Los Angeles County. With the renewed attention on fatal encounters between police and civilians, the idea may be in the early stages of making a comeback.

Smith writes:

Now, with frustration boiling in Los Angeles as well as cities such as Ferguson and Baltimore over the handling of killings by police, some legal analysts and public officials are asking whether the inquest — or a modified form of it — could be revived as a vehicle to increase public access to information.

At the urging of County Medical Examiner-Coroner Mark A. Fajardo, who reviewed all police shootings in his job as Riverside County coroner, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors has asked key agency heads to rethink the review process with an eye to increasing transparency.

Fajardo, who became L.A.’s coroner in 2013, said he found it "troubling" that the office had no review procedures.

"I think the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner should have a process that assures quality, assures efficiency and is transparent in some respect," Fajardo said.

He said he considered calling an inquest into the Los Angeles Police Department’s fatal shooting of Ezell Ford last year, but held back because he hadn't fully vetted the process. The county is still reviewing various options.

In an article to be published this summer in the Yale Law & Policy Review, Paul MacMahon, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics, argues that a revamped inquest procedure could serve an important role both for accountability in wrongful deaths and "helping the deceased’s family come to terms with a traumatic death."

Read the rest of Smith's report: Could a discredited institution from L.A.'s past be reborn?

See the Homicide Report's coverage of officer-involved shootings

-- Matt Ballinger

Today you'll notice that we've changed the look and functionality of the Homicide Report's map. This is part of a series of improvements we're making to the site, based in part on readers' feedback.

The first change you'll see is that the old "clusters" (at left in the image above) have been replaced by orange markers for each incident. This offers a more accurate representation of where killings occur in Los Angeles County. There are more than 14,000 homicides going back to 2000 in our database, so when you select "All years" in the filters, you may notice that the map becomes sluggish in your Web browser. Plotting that many points is hard on browsers, but we're looking for ways to improve the speed.

You'll also notice that as you filter -- by age, race, cause and other categories -- homicides that do not fall within the selected filters will remain on the map as small gray dots. Previously, they would not appear. The new display provides greater context, especially when zoomed in on the map, because you can see nearby homicides regardless of neighborhood or other filters.

In the top left corner of the map, you'll find a button, below the zoom functions, that allows you to see a full-screen version of the map.

We have also slimmed down some features that were redundant, unnecessary or confusing.

Since the new homicide markers are more effective than the old clusters at showing densities of homicides, we've removed the coloring of neighborhoods based on the "L.A. Times Homicide Rank." We are still maintaining that data, though, and are looking for other ways for people to access it.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment or reach out to us by email with feedback.

— Armand Emamdjomeh

The final defendant in the 2010 Christmas Day killing of a mother in front of her 3-year-old daughter was convicted of murder late Monday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Kashmier James, 25, had celebrated the holiday with family members before stopping in the 1700 block of West 85th Street in Manchester Square to visit a high school friend. She was standing outside her car, talking to the friend, about 10:20 p.m., when she was shot in the head. Her daughter was still in the car.

Derrick Williams, 20, was convicted Monday of murder and attempted murder with gang and gun allegations. Last week, a jury also found Darnell Houston, 38, and Lamar McKnight, 28, guilty of special circumstance murder and attempted murder with gang and gun allegations, prosecutors said. In May, Ezekiel Simon, 20, pleaded no contest to the same charges.

The night of the murder, the men, members of the 111 Neighborhood Crips, drove to rival gang territory “hunting” for victims, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Antonella Nistorescu. The men spotted James talking to a 26-year-old man and assumed he was from a rival gang.

The gunman, McKnight, jumped out of a blue SUV and began shooting. James was struck in the head and collapsed on top of the man. The man, who was uninjured, managed to escape.

“It’s tragic in the truest sense of the word,” Nistorescu said.

During the trial, a gang member testified that the driver of the car, Houston, told him about the shooting. A street informant also testified about McKnight’s role in the shooting.

To the gang members, James was “collateral damage,” Nistorescu said.

“It just goes to show that there’s just no limit to the violence,” Nistorescu said. “There’s no understanding that anything is sacred.”

The vehicle, which witnesses described as a dark blue SUV with chrome rims, was repossessed after the shooting without the rims, which were found at a family member’s home during a search.

Williams, Houston and McKnight, all black men, are set to be sentenced Sept. 16. Because Williams was 15 at the time of the shooting, he faces 50 years to life in prison. Houston and McKnight are each facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Simon, who is also black, is facing 29 years in state prison and is set to be sentenced Aug. 19.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: Kim Evans is comforted by Christopher Jackson in December 2010 as they announce a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in the Christmas Day murder of her daughter, Kashmier James, 25, in South Los Angeles. Credit: Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times