Elaine Lynn Thompson, 59

Aug. 9, 2010, 4:36 p.m.

Elaine Thompson, a 59-year-old white woman, was fatally shot Thursday, Aug. 5, in the 2900 block of Foss Avenue in Mayflower Village, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Thompson's husband, Robert Maurice Thompson, called 911 about 1 p.m. and told the dispatcher he had shot his wife and she was dead, said sheriff's homicide Det. Ralph Hernandez, who is handling the investigation.

Authorities arrived and she was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:23 p.m. She had been shot in the back of the head, according to coroner's records.

Robert Thompson, a 64-year-old white man, was arrested and charged with murder, Hernandez said.

Investigators have declined to disclose why Robert killed his wife.

He was being held at the Inmate Detention Center downtown in lieu of $1 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 23 at Rio Hondo Municipal Court.

Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Hernandez or Kevin Lowe at (323) 890-5500.

-- Sarah Ardalani

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12 reader comments

There are a couple very real cultural factors that need to be addressed among Latino families before gang violence is tempered. I only speak about Latinos because that is the area I know about most.

First, there is religion. There is this absurd concept that only God can judge a gang member killed in the line of fire. If you do anything less than make the deceased out to be a saint, you are speaking ill of the dead and are committing a terrible act. Religion was sacrosanct in my own family and it is clear how it aids families into denying the truth, using an arbitrary prohibition on "judgment" to justify their denial.

It is not God's will. It is not in God's hands. You are the master of your own destiny. By condemning criminal behavior and shaming those who commit it, you are already part of the solution.

Second, the limits of family bonds must be addressed. That there *are* limits is my point. Blood is *not* in any way, shape or form thicker than water. This is a concept that must die a quick and painful death if we are to evolve. Family members must respect each other *first* before those blood bonds are strengthened.

When your gang banging relative comes to you looking for shelter, aid or simply to hang out, you do not have to patronize them. But by doing so, you are introducing a criminal element into your home, essentially approving of it implicitly. When you have a birthday party for a young child and your gangbanger relative is invited, don't be surprised when *his* enemies crash the party.

The funny part is that the gang member has no respect for family. Why else would they put their family in such danger?

The term "family" has been perverted by gangs to put a benevolent face on criminal behavior. No, that's not what family is and never was.

— Spokker Aug. 18, 2010 at 6:51 a.m.

Jag:

Using 2000 census results this is what I came up with. There are some rounding errors, and the racial makeup has changed a bit since 2000. And, I could only rely on the Times homicide count for the past three years, as this will skew things a bit. But the changes don't detract much from the order of magnitude differences between the black, white and asian homicide rates.

I would love to crunch the numbers for the peak gang years of 17 through 25 in which the black and latino numbers would be multiple orders of magnitude higher as compared to white and asians.

In addition, it is hard to compare exact homicide rates from decade to decade when considering that emergency medicine is saving more lives to day than a decade ago.

A better way of presenting these horrific statistics is by the reported AWW crimes, or by hospital admissions for gunshot or stabbings. My reasoning is it doesn't matter that someone is shot or stabbed. It does matter on what technology is available for what year, in that what could have been a sure fatal wound a decade ago, could easily be a survivable wound these days.

My numbers:

Latino's make up 45% of the city and account for 53% of the homicides.

Blacks make up only 10% of the population but account for a whopping 33% of the homicides.

Whites make up 31%, but account for only 11% of the homicides.

Asians account for 12% of the population, but only 3% of homicides.

Once the 2010 census numbers are released, I will be happy to redo the numbers.

— syscom3 Aug. 17, 2010 at 9:25 p.m.

The Homicide Report

Elaine Lynn Thompson, 59

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