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Jose Manuel Silva-Nieves, 20
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Rocio Lissette Vasquez, 46
Rocio Lissette Vasquez, a 46-year-old Latinofemale, died Monday, Aug. 24, in East Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.
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Francisco Reyolorio, 46
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Ramon Barrientos, 28
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Corey Dashon Greene, 46
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Kenneth J. Gardner, 57
Kenneth J. Gardner, a 57-year-old blackmale, died Wednesday, Aug. 26, after being shot in Vermont Vista, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
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Aurelius Eugene Haywood, 40
Aurelius Eugene Haywood, a 40-year-old blackmale, died Wednesday, Aug. 26, after being shot in Broadway-Manchester, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
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James Jackson, 30
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Woman's sentence in slaying of ex-lover: two terms of 25 years to life
A Palmdale woman was sentenced Wednesday to two consecutive 25-year-to-life prison terms after shooting a woman with whom she had a romantic relationship, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
On Aug. 13, a jury found Larene Eleanor Austin, a 33-year-old black woman, guilty of one count of first-degree murder and using a gun to kill Lanell Barsock, 29.
Austin and Barsock met through Craigslist personal ads in May 2010. A month later, Barsock ended the relationship 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, according to court testimony.
Austin attempted to frame Bonheuer for the killing and later fled to Belize when investigators confirmed the man's alibi. In January 2012, Austin was arrested and extradited to the U.S. for trial.
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Former boyfriend of slain Monrovia woman is arrested on suspicion of murder
The former boyfriend of Lajoya McCoy and father of their two children was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder in connection with the Monrovia woman's disappearance and death in mid-June.
Jose Roberto Turner, a 47-year-old black man from Pasadena, is being held without bail, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Victor Lewandowski said Friday.
According to IMDb, Turner is an actor and producer who directed and acted in the 50-minute film "Jose Turner's Untold Urban Tales: The Transition." He also wrote and directed the play "A Fight For Love," which was performed at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2012.
McCoy and Turner lived together for many years and have two children, ages 5 and 9. The children were staying with their father on June 10, the night McCoy and her car disappeared from her Monrovia apartment in the 800 block of West Olive Avenue.
After friends and family reported her missing, Monrovia police checked McCoy's apartment on June 15 and found evidence of foul play. Investigators found McCoy's badly decomposed body inside her silver Toyota Camry the following day, in the 200 block of West Cypress Avenue, about a mile from her home.
The Sheriff's Department has released few details about the case or how McCoy died. Lewandowski said investigators won't discuss their evidence until the Los Angeles County district attorney's office files charges against Turner. That could happen Monday.
Turner has been a suspect in the case from the beginning, Lewandowski said. Friends and family reported that McCoy had been harassed and threatened by Turner after they separated.
Investigators laid their case out before a judge Wednesday night so they could have a warrant to arrest Turner on Thursday morning. Family members have taken over care of the children, Lewandowski said.
"There are tactical reasons why we do certain things, but the children were a big part of it," he said. "There are just certain things you have to keep in mind when you have one parent who is deceased and another parent being taken into custody for the death."
McCoy juggled a full-time job as an auditor for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health with raising her two children. She also ran her own businesses on the side.
The case is still under investigation, Lewandowski 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 Homcide Report. And follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.
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'He was supposed to be safe here,' mother says of son who was gunned down outside Palms home
When Cynthia Gibson heard five gunshots outside her Palms apartment Wednesday night, she immediately thought of her son. Gibson and her husband bolted outside to find James Jackson, 30, motionless on an outdoor stairwell.
“I just fell down and rolled on the ground,” Gibson said while lingering next to the spot where witnesses say the gunman opened fire. “He was at home. He was supposed to be safe here. Nothing like this happens over here.”
That night, Jackson was visiting a neighbor in his apartment complex in the 3100 block of Canfield Avenue. He received a phone call and stepped outside.
According to witnesses, he sat down on the third step of an outdoor staircase when a man approached. The man stood at a waist-high fence separating another apartment complex from Jackson’s. Witnesses saw the gunman focus on Jackson.
Then the gunfire disturbed the quiet street.
Witnesses said the gunman fled east on Kincardine Avenue. Police arrived about 8:30 p.m. Paramedics took Jackson to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Thursday at 1:15 a.m., according to coroner’s records. Investigators have not made any arrests.
Jackson was the third person killed in the Palms neighborhood this year, according to the Times' Homicide Report database.
On Friday, nearly 80 people came to the apartment where Jackson had lived for 20 years.
He was a graduate of Hamilton High School, just around the corner.
The 30-year-old was remembered as an older brother or uncle figure to many families in the neighborhood. He would watch the children when they played in the street, unless it was a sport — then he would join in. “This community lost a brother,” neighbor Marcia Barnes said.
Jackson worked at a Staples and was in the process of becoming a dental assistant, his family said.
A lengthy line of mourners consoled the grieving mother at the spot where her son was slain. Barnes watched from the end of the driveway.
“I can hear her cries every day from my apartment,” Barnes, 45, said. “It’s a mother-son bond that was broken. His death is going to leave a big space on this street.”
When Barnes’ 16-year-old son joined the football team, Jackson would attend his games. Barnes recalled how the day before Jackson was fatally shot, he promised to help her 13-year-old daughter, Jazmin, make a lanyard.
“It's just so sad,” Jazmin said, holding her mother’s side. “He was a good man.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD West Bureau homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
Contact the Homicide Report. And follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.
Photos: (First) Cynthia Gibson on Friday sits on the stairs where her son was shot Wednesday. (Second) Mourners gather for a prayer on Canfield Avenue in Palms during the vigil for James Jackson. Credit: Jerome Campbell / Los Angeles Times
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Marshawn Jackson, 18
Marshawn Jackson, a 18-year-old blackmale, died Thursday, Aug. 27, after being shot in Florence-Firestone, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
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Trevon Oneal Lark, 33
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Glen Lee Brittner, 59
Glen Lee Brittner, a 59-year-old whitemale, died Friday, Aug. 28, in Southeast Antelope Valley, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. The cause of death is pending.
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Jascent-Jamal Lee Warren, 26
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Ricardo Cabrales, 14
Ricardo Cabrales, a 14-year-old Latinomale, died Friday, Aug. 28, after being shot in East Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
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Ernest Ramos, 25
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Man pleads not guilty in fatal Long Beach stabbing
A 50-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to stabbing a woman after an argument July 7 in Long Beach.
Vincent Todd Armstrong, who is black, has been charged with the murder of Taylor Lyn Parks, a 25-year-old black woman, in the 5500 block of Long Beach Boulevard.
Armstrong is scheduled to return to court Sept. 1 for a pre-hearing conference at Los Angeles County Superior Court in Long Beach, according to L.A. County district attorney spokesman Greg Risling.
Parks was stabbed in the upper torso about 11:20 p.m. She died of her injuries in a local hospital.
Witnesses reported hearing an argument that escalated into violence and seeing a man running from the area, according to a news release from the Long Beach Police Department.
Investigators thanked community members for providing information that led to Armstrong’s arrest, according to the release.
Anyone with information is asked to call Long Beach Police Homicide Dets. Donald Goodman or Mark Mattia at (562) 570-7244. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
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L.A. sees deadliest August since 2007 with 39 homicides
After remaining relatively flat for much of the year, the number of people killed in Los Angeles surged in August, leaving police scrambling to rein in the violence.
Through Saturday, the city recorded a nearly 7% increase in homicides — which amounts to 12 more killings — since the start of the year, compared with the same time period in 2014, according to LAPD data.
Thirty-nine people were killed in L.A. last month, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said, making it the deadliest August the city has seen since 2007, when 41 people were killed.
Read the full report by Kate Mather and Nicole Santa Cruz here: L.A. homicides, after big jump in August, are up 7% for 2015
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Leon Deandre Simpson, 39
Leon Deandre Simpson, a 39-year-old black man, was shot and killed Thursday, Sept. 3, near East 50th and South San Pedro streets in South Park, according to police and Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Simpson was shot while driving west on East 50th Street, LAPD Det. Richard Arciniega said.
It is unclear where the gunman may have fired from, but the shooting led Simpson to crash his SUV into two parked cars and a home, which then erupted in flames.
More than 30 firefighters responded to the shooting. Two LAPD officers pulled Simpson from the burning SUV, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:39 p.m., according to coroner’s records.
Simpson was a father of four who also served as the president of a local motorcycle club named Hogg Life.
Cameron Buffington, 47, a friend of Simpson for more than two decades, said he had spoken with Simpson a few hours before his death, and they were planning a trip to Lake Elsinore with their families over the Labor Day weekend.
“He was a family man – and that was it,” Buffington said.
Buffington said it’s unclear why someone would have targeted Simpson, especially because he spoke out against violence and wanted to start a local youth softball team to help give youngsters something to do in the area.
“He was always the first one to be like, ‘Let’s sit down, let’s talk about it,’” he said.
Lenecia Glover, who knows Simpson through the motorcycle club, said that she was “devastated” to hear of the shooting.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD’s Newton Division at (323) 846-6556. 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: A small vigil was set up Friday, Sept. 4 near where Simpson's car crashed. Credit: Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times
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