Desiree Veronica Ramirez, a 31-year-old Latinofemale, died Tuesday, Aug. 11, after being shot in Mount Washington, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Eduardo Lopez, a 35-year-old Latinomale, died Thursday, Aug. 13, after being shot in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Paige Nicole Chiarello, a 20-year-old whitefemale, died Thursday, Aug. 13, in Redondo Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

A jury on Tuesday unanimously rejected a lawsuit by the family of a 21-year-old Latino who was shot and killed by LAPD officers in 2010.

In May of that year, two officers responded to a call for assistance from family members of Oscar Morales, who had a history of suicide threats. At t he family's North Hills home, one officer was in another room with family while the other officer, Davis Giron, stayed in the living room with Morales.

The officers described Morales as initially cooperative, until he suddenly grabbed a fireplace poker and lunged at Giron, who fired his weapon. Morales was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:10 p.m.

The jury decision dismissed claims that officers used improper tactics in the events that led up to the shooting.

Attorney John Burton, who represented the Morales family, said the family does not dispute that Giron appropriately but believed the shooting could have been avoided if the situation was handled differently.

“No one was saying that the decision to pull the trigger was wrong, that was not the case at all … but the officer used inappropriate tactics to isolate him in the room,” Burton told The Times. “He went from calm to suicide-by-cop in a moment.”

-- Stephen Ceasar

Larene Austin was covered in blood when she walked into the Palmdale station of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department on June 16, 2010. She told deputies she had found Lanell Barsock, her ex-lover, dead in a garage and was chased away by the woman’s boyfriend.

Police initially held the boyfriend, Louis Bonheuer, on suspicion of murder. But detectives later found that he had an alibi. As they questioned Austin, inconsistencies emerged in her story.

Bonheuer was released, and Austin fled to Belize, where she was arrested in January 2012.

“Why run away when you're innocent?” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jason Quirino said Wednesday in his closing statements of the six-week murder trial against Austin. “Why change your story so many times when you did nothing wrong? Something doesn’t add up.”

The jury in the case began deliberations Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Lancaster. If convicted of first-degree murder, Austin could face a life sentence.

Austin and Barsock met through Craigslist in May of 2010 and became romantically involved. Barsock ended their relationship via text message the next month, saying she wanted to stay with her boyfriend but remain friends with Austin.

On June 16, Austin was styling Barsock’s hair at the home she shared with her boyfriend, Quirino said. That’s when Austin grabbed a pillow from a chair, put it next to Barsock’s head and shot her, prosecutors say. A crime scene expert testified that the bullet’s trajectory was consistent with the prosecution’s assertions. Ballistics evidence matches a model of a gun that Austin had registered in her name. Investigators did not find Austin’s gun.

The prosecution also provided security footage, transaction records and cellphone signals that placed Bonheuer in Los Angeles, more than an hour’s drive from Palmdale, on the day of the killing.

David Kwak, Austin’s defense attorney, countered that Austin had no motive to kill Barsock. After Barsock ended their relationship, Austin replied that she understood and wanted to remain friends, he said. The defense also argued that the prosecution, in the absence of proving a motive, tried to smear Austin by bringing up text messages about Austin’s other romantic relationships.

“The prosecution has a very weak argument, and they know it,” Kwak told the jury in his closing statements.

Kwak also tried to show that Bonheuer had a motive and brought up evidence of Barsock’s having an affair with another man and financial and other arguments he had had with Barsock.

On Thursday, the jury found Austin guilty of first-degree murder.

FOR THE RECORD

Aug. 14, 2015, 2:15 p.m.: An earlier version of this article said the jury would resume deliberations Friday, Aug. 14. The jury reached a verdict on Thursday, Aug. 13.

-- Jerome Campbell

A 33-year-old Palmdale woman was convicted Thursday of shooting another woman with whom she had a romantic relationship after meeting on Craigslist, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. 

Larene Eleanor Austin, a 33-year-old black woman, was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of Lanell Barsock, 29. The two met through a Craigslist personal ad in May 2010, prosecutors said.

A month later, they said, Barsock told Austin that she would rather stay friends so she could focus on her relationship with her boyfriend, Louis Bonheuer.

On June 16, 2010, Austin went to Barsock’s house and fatally shot her in the head, prosecutors said. Later that day, they, said, Austin drove to the Palmdale sheriff’s station and claimed that Bonheuer committed the crime.

She fled the country when he was cleared by authorities, prosecutors said.

In January 2012, Austin was arrested in Belize and extradited to the U.S. to stand trial.

Austin, who faces 50 years to life in prison, is expected to be sentenced Aug. 26 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope County branch.

-- Jerome Campbell

Kumase Baraka Jefferson, a 41-year-old black man, was shot and killed Saturday, Aug. 15, in the 900 block of West 65th Street in Vermont-Slauson, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m., Jefferson and a 35-year-old man were standing in front of an abandoned residence when a light-colored sedan pulled up, said LAPD Det. Chris Barling.

Multiple people got out of the sedan and opened fire, striking Jefferson and the 35-year-old man.

Jefferson was pronounced dead at  6:45 p.m. at the scene, according to coroner’s records. The 35-year-old is expected to survive.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5113. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Oscar Ruiz, a 44-year-old Latinomale, died Saturday, Aug. 15, in Irwindale, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Annette Martinez, a 21-year-old Latinofemale, died Sunday, Aug. 16, after being stabbed in Rowland Heights, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Joey Alfred Jimenez, a 49-year-old Latino, was stabbed to death Sunday, Aug. 16, in the 900 block of Las Rosas Drive in West Covina, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. 

West Covina police received a 911 call about a stabbing victim at 3:38 a.m. When police arrived, they found Jimenez on the floor of his home with a stab wound, according to a department news release.

Officers began CPR, but Jimenez was pronounced dead at the scene by West Covina fire paramedics at 4:06 a.m., according to coroner's records. 

Jimenez's son, Maverick Jacob Jimenez, a 20-year-old Latino who also lived at the residence, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. 

Investigators said the father and son got into an argument before the elder Jimenez was stabbed.

Maverick Jimenez was charged Aug. 18 with one count of murder, with the special allegation that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, in the commission of the crime, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Maverick Jimenez is being held at the Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. His arraignment, which was originally set for Aug. 18, has been rescheduled to Aug. 21 in Department F of Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pomona Branch, according to the district attorney's release. 

Marcus Edward McClendon, a 52-year-old black man, was shot and killed Tuesday, Aug. 18,  in the 1600 block of West 65th Place in Harvard Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Shortly before midnight Aug. 17, McClendon and another man pulled up to a home to see a friend, said LAPD Det. Chris Barling. About 10 minutes after the two arrived, a man walked up and began shooting.

McClendon was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 18. The other man, who was wounded, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.

Barling said the gunman ran north on South Harvard Boulevard and possibly got into a sedan. Police are looking for witnesses.

On Tuesday afternoon, Simone Glossen leaned back on the broken amp outside her home where McClendon sat before he was killed. Glossen, 30, looked toward the end of the street where a group of men circled the corner still in disbelief over the shooting.

Glossen turned away and looked at three candles placed on the sidewalk where McClendon fell to the ground.

"I've cried so much already that I can't do it anymore," Glossen said. "I can't do much but just sit in it, you know. He's dead now."

Other people in the area said McClendon came to the area after getting off work. Glossen and others were chatting with McClendon late Tuesday night when a man walked up and opened fire, she said. The group scattered, she said, but McClendon was hit.

Friends and family remembered McClendon as a kind man who worked as a local mechanic.

This summer, he repaired the bikes of several kids on the block. Glossen said he also gave her rides in high school.

"He didn't have to do that you, you know," she said. "I wouldn't have thought any less of him. But he paid attention to the small things. And they made a difference to people."

Two days before the shooting, Glossen said McClendon helped her move some furniture into her home and play wrestled with her son.

"He said that he was going to come back and get him for round two," Glossen smiled. "He won't get that chance for a rematch."

Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD's Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (323) 786-5113. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Photo: Three candles line West 65th Place in Harvard Park where Marcus McClendon, 52, died Aug. 18 after he was shot. Credit: Jerome Campbell

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

A 61-year-old black man was stabbed to death Tuesday, Aug. 18, in the 14500 block of South Harris Avenue in East Compton. The man, whom friends identified as Robert Ringer, was talking with friends after 7 p.m. at a house where he occasionally stayed and frequently performed odd jobs for an elderly woman.

“It was a typical night for us,” Darrell Ferguson, a friend of Ringer, said. “We were just laughing and horsing around. And then randomly, things got out of control.”

Darrell Ferguson said Ringer stepped outside behind the house with Ramona Annis, 53, to talk about a faulty water heater. The conversation started out calm but escalated into an argument. Then Annis drew a small blade and stabbed Ringer, Darrell Ferguson said; Ringer stepped back but Annis stepped forward and stabbed him again.

“I heard them arguing. But then I heard Robert holler out,” Stacey Ferguson, 30, said. “I opened up the back porch door and saw her stomping on his face.”

“She was yelling," he continued, "‘You’ll never disrespect me again.'"

Annis tried to leave but Stacey Ferguson’s cousin held on to the woman until Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrived. Annis was booked on suspicion of murder Wednesday and is being held on $1 million bail.

Ringer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ferguson said he had never seen Annis and Ringer have a serious argument and was surprised by the violence.

“They used to play-argue over stuff like pens or seats, but I had no idea that she would take it that far,” Stacey Ferguson said.

Darrell Ferguson remembered Ringer as a helpful handyman who could always be counted on.

“He was just someone who you could talk to," he said. "Even when something was bothering you, you could talk about something else and feel better by the end of the conversation. He was a good person to have when you were going through stuff.

“Now though, I’m not sure what to do.”

Photo: Robert Ringer.

Email the Homicide Report. And follow@latimeshomicide on Twitter.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is offering a $10,000 reward to help find the person who fatally shot a 35-year-old man at a Long Beach apartment complex in June.

On June 28, police responded to a 911 call in 700 block of Linden Avenue involving a shooting victim. The man, later identified as Iran Maese, was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the investigation, detectives obtained surveillance video that shows a "subject of interest" whom they want the public's help identifying. The video shows the man walking on Frontenac Court near 7th Street around the time of the killing. The man was wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and long, dark-colored shorts.

(Police released two other videos, which are linked to in a department news release.)

Anyone who recognizes the individual in the video or has information related to the incident is urged to contact Long Beach police homicide Dets. Mark Bigel and Sean Irving at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling (800) 222-8477, texting TIPLA and your tip to CRIMES (274637), or going to lacrimestoppers.org.

Email the Homicide Report. And follow@latimeshomicide on Twitter.

The two men lay motionless on the sidewalk outside a South L.A. carwash, pools of blood spilling from their heads. With the paramedics still on their way, people crowded around the men and pulled out their phones.

Before detectives arrived, an image had been posted to Instagram, then circulated on Facebook and Twitter.

One man would live, but the family of the man who died found out about it through the graphic photo.

For some, the photo — and its distribution — was a brazen, inappropriate act. The next day, members of a Los Angeles City Council committee on gangs and public works denounced the posting.

"It was just disgusting. It was just immoral," Councilman Joe Buscaino, a former police officer, told the committee.

But the photo also is an example of how social media is changing policing — and how people in communities such as South L.A. are reacting to violence.

Just as social media can help investigators, it can also be a hindrance. Recently, when a man was killed in South L.A., rumors of retaliatory violence spread through the hashtag #100days100nights, creating a frenzy that officers had to tamp down. And the photo of the man killed outside the carwash, 23-year-old Delshon Hayes, again made social media part of the conversation in the community.

"I think people are getting more brave with it," said LAPD Det. Young Mun, who is investigating Hayes' killing.

Although people posting graphic images on social media is nothing new, Mun said the photo of Hayes was the first time that he had arrived at a homicide scene after a photograph had already been posted.

"It went up there really fast," he said.

South Bureau Cmdr. Phil Tingirides with the Los Angeles Police Department said the agency tries to monitor gang activity and related postings on the Internet. In addition, social media has "absolutely changed" the process of death notifications.

In some neighborhoods, family members will anticipate a homicide detective's arrival — they've already found out through text messages or Facebook.

"The days of going up and knocking on somebody's door in a community like Los Angeles … those days are so far gone," Tingirides said.

What people post to social media could also signal how desensitized some are to violence, said David Pyrooz, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado who has studied social media and gangs.

Pyrooz said it has become normal to pull out a phone any time there's some sort of action.

"There's no rules when it comes to your everyday citizen when you're posting things on Twitter," he said.

Social media companies have varying policies with graphic images. According to Twitter's policy, the company will remove imagery of bodies in "certain circumstances." Family members and other "authorized individuals" can ask for images to be removed by filling out a privacy form.

According to Facebook's policy, the company takes the context of a post into account. For instance, if a person posts something that celebrates violence, it would violate community standards. But it wouldn't if it were deemed an aspect of free speech such as raising awareness. Instagram did not respond to a request for comment.

Matthew Sutton, a barber who lives in the area where Hayes was killed, reposted the bloody image on his Instagram account. He said he wanted to be bold and express an opinion.

The photograph, he said, was an example of the black-on-black violence he feels goes unnoticed by the media and the public.

"It's time for me to say something," he said. "I've been living with that my whole life. Let's start speaking up."

Photo: Delshon Hayes.

Email the Homicide Report. And follow@latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Catherine Mazzucco stood in the darkness of the garage where her son lived. Almost every piece of furniture had been given to her son in repayment for jobs he’d done as a handyman. A red bicycle stood against the far wall, her son’s favorite.

She gripped the handlebars and lowered her head. A dark pink sheet hanging from the open garage door gave the grieving mother a few moments of privacy before she was called out to meet well-wishers on her front lawn.

“I haven’t really slept since he was killed,” Mazzucco said Thursday. “I hope this brings everyone some peace because I could use some too.”

Mazzucco awoke late Monday to a pounding on her door. Marcus McClendon, her overprotective 52-year-old son would have answered the door, but he had left 20 minutes before to hang out with buddies. A young man stood panting on her doorstep and returned her surprised look with pain in his eyes: Someone had shot Marcus.

"Jesus have mercy on my son," Mazzucco cried out, then began to walk the two blocks to the place where her son had fallen. Monique McClendon, Mazzucco’s youngest daughter, was driving to the scene when she spotted her mother. In the car together, they followed the panicked screams to where Marcus McClendon lay.

“Every night he would drive by my house and honk,” Monique McClendon, 45, said. “But that night he just sped right by. I knew something wasn’t right. Something had changed.”

Mazzucco jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop and ran toward her son.

“I was thinking that he was shot in the leg or something,” Mazzucco said. “But when I saw him, he was lying in his own blood.”

Shortly before midnight, McClendon and another man pulled up to a home in the 1600 block of West 65th Place in Harvard Park, according to LAPD Det. Chris Barling. Ten minutes later, a man walked up and began shooting.

McClendon was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18. The other man, who was wounded, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.

Police said Friday they are still looking for the shooter.

Family members, friends and neighbors greeted Mazzucco outside her house Thursday night for a peace walk to the spot where her son was slain. A mourning party of nearly 25 people slowly marched through the neighborhood, singing “Amazing Grace.”

People on the route came out of their homes; some who knew Marcus McClendon left their porches to join the march.

“He would do anything you ever needed,” said Cheri Dillard, who had known McClendon for 15 years. “I had just spoken to Marcus the day before, and he promised that he would come detail my car. He just wanted to help me out. He had such a kind heart.”

The group had grown to nearly 50 people as they turned from Denker Avenue onto West 65th Place. A dozen candles stood in front of the broken amplifier where he was sitting when the gunman opened fire.

Emotions were running high. 

"He died right there," wailed Wanda Randall, who knew Marcus McClendon for 14 years. A niece cried and shook violently. Then members of the crowd began to share memories.

“When we were kids, I used to hear the latest hits on the radio and call Marcus to tell him about it. And every time, he would already have it already recorded on a cassette for me,” Gregory Brockman, 52, said.

“I used to keep those cassettes in my pockets and feel so big and proud. I’ll never forget how he made me feel.”

Others mentioned his coarse yet endearing humor.

“Marcus might cuss you out from time to time, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t love you. He loved you even more,” Randall said. “He would get away with some wild stuff, but only he could do it because it was him, and we all loved him.”

Georgianne Amaya, 50, Marcus McClendon’s sister, remembered how her big brother would act as her chaperon on dates. The two were even together for a double date at Amaya’s prom.

“We even got married together on the same day at the same chapel in Vegas. I can’t even begin to imagine the void I’m gonna feel,” Amaya said.

As night fell, the crowd thinned. An ice cream truck passed the block playing “Silent Night.”

“I think I’m gonna get some sleep tonight,” Mazzucco said, closing her front door.

A small group stayed around the broken amplifier and continued to swap stories. They broke out in laughter, growing louder and making up for their friend’s missing voice.

Photos: (First) Catherine Mazzucco leads a group on a peace march to the site of the vigil for her son, Marcus McClendon, on Thursday. Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times. (Second) Monique McClendon speaks at the vigil for her brother. Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times. (Third) Marcus McClendon. Credit: Family photo. (Fourth) Mourners light candles for Marcus McClendon. Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times

Email the Homicide Report. And follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Junior Jimenez, a 22-year-old Latinomale, died Wednesday, Aug. 19, in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.

Juan Carlos Hernandez, a 24-year-old Latinomale, died Friday, Aug. 21, after being shot in Panorama City, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

In the final moments of John Berry's life, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies attempted to pull him from his car and shot him with a Taser as a woman screamed at them to stop. Then came the gunfire that sprayed the windshield of his BMW. Minutes later, the 31-year-old was pronounced dead at the curb just outside his Lakewood home.

The July 6 incident was captured on a shaky, three-minute cellphone video that attorneys for Berry's family said Monday is key evidence in a claim they filed against the county and the Sheriff's Department for negligence, assault and battery and violation of civil rights.

At the time of the shooting, the agency said Berry had rammed his vehicle into a responding patrol car and later trapped a deputy between his vehicle and another auto.

But an attorney for Berry's family said that Berry never struck the patrol car with his vehicle and that the shooting began after a deputy fell down beside the cars.

Read the full report by Corina Knoll and Ruben Vives and watch the video on latimes.com >>

A 24-year-old Long Beach man has been charged with murder in connection with the July 4 stabbing death of 38-year-old Allen Dean Estes, a former roommate, in Long Beach.

Norman Matthew Perdon was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder and using a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, according to Los Angeles County district attorney spokesman Greg Risling. His hearing was set for L.A. County Superior Court in Long Beach.

Perdon was arrested by Long Beach police July 10 and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. 

Perdon is accused of stabbing Estes to death at the corner of Anaheim Street and Dawson Avenue. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics found Estes unresponsive about 5:27 a.m. and pronounced him dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Long Beach Police Department. 

A tip from the public led investigators to Perdon, according to the release, which reported that the two men had been roommates and were involved in an ongoing dispute.

Anyone with information is asked to call Long Beach Homicide Dets. Scott Lasch and Michael Hubbard at (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.  

A 26-year-old Latino has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the June 22 shooting death of Douglas Wilson in Long Beach. 

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Jorge Luis Cruz of Long Beach with murder June 26, four days after the 8:45 a.m. shooting in the 800 block of Cedar Lane. 

On Aug. 1, Long Beach police pulled over a car in the 1300 block of Ohio Avenue. A passenger, whom officers recognized as Cruz, allegedly fled, according to a department news release, and officers tracked him down.

Cruz was arrested about 8:15 p.m. and is being held in lieu of $2 million, according to the release.

He pleaded not guilty to the murder charge Aug. 18. 

The department is still investigating the case and hasn’t discussed a motive for the shooting. Anyone with information can call Dets. Hugo Cortes and Oscar Valenzuela at (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.