Nephi Arrequin, 21
Nephi Arrequin, a 21-year-old Black male, died Thursday, May 7, after being shot. by law enforcement
Man sentenced to 16 years to life in killing of friend at construction site
A 21-year-old Latino who bludgeoned a friend to death at an East Hollywood construction site was sentenced Monday to 16 years to life in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
A jury in April found Christian Valdez guilty of second-degree murder.
Prosecutors said that Valdez worked with Juan Sanchez, 19, at a construction site in the 4200 block of West Burns Avenue on the border of East Hollywood and Silver Lake. In May 2014, Valdez showed up to work drunk and was sent home. He borrowed Sanchez’s car and crashed it.
Sanchez hoped that Valdez, a longtime friend, would pay for the damage to the car.
On May 22, Valdez came back to work and bludgeoned Sanchez to death with a sledgehammer and a framing hammer, prosecutors said. Valdez fled but was arrested on suspicion of murder that day.
Brendon K. Glenn, 29
Brendon K. Glenn, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles police officer on Wednesday, May 6, in Venice, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Glenn was a “traveler” who went by the name “Dizzle,” friends told the Los Angeles Times. He and his black Lab, Dozer, had been panhandling outside a bar at 80 Windward Avenue shortly before he was shot by Clifford Proctor, a 50-year-old black LAPD officer.
Proctor and his unidentified partner were called to the area about 11:20 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, to check out a complaint about a homeless man “harassing customers,” according to an LAPD news release. The two officers spoke briefly with Glenn, who headed back toward the boardwalk.
The officers returned to their patrol car, but a short time later they saw Glenn “physically struggling” with a bouncer outside a bar, investigators said. When the …
Ledarion Demont Allen Jr., 21
Ledarion Demont Allen Jr., a 21-year-old black male, died Wednesday, May 6, after being shot in Santa Clarita, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
George David Alvarado, 18
George David Alvarado, a 18-year-old Latino male, died Wednesday, May 6, after being shot in Sun Valley, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
Erica Estrada, 25
Thong Kien Ma, 32
Thong Kien Ma, a 32-year-old Asian man, was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies Tuesday, May 5, in the 10400 block of Enloe Street in South El Monte, according to the L.A. County coroner's office.
Ma was attacking his neighbor with a meat cleaver when Sheriff's Department deputies arrived at the residence, according to a news release from the department. The deputies fired when Ma came at them with the cleaver, investigators said.
When the first deputy arrived about 12:47 p.m., he saw Saney Ngo, 55, an Asian woman who was standing in the street outside her home, bleeding from the head.
The deputy then noticed the suspect standing in a flower bed outside the front door of the residence. He appeared to be repeatedly hacking at something, according to the news release.
The deputy moved closer and realized the suspect was hacking at a man — …
Chau Da Ngo, 59
Chau Da Ngo, a 59-year-old Asian man, was killed outside his home Tuesday, May 5, in the 10400 block of Enloe Street in South El Monte, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Ngo and his wife, Saney Ngo, 55, were attacked by their neighbor, who was wielding a meat cleaver, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Saney Ngo was treated for cuts on her head and released.
Chau Ngo had multiple sharp-force wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 1 p.m., according to the coroner’s report.
The attacker, Thong Kien Ma, a 32-year-old Asian man, was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies after he allegedly came at them with the cleaver, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Department.
Deputies were called to the Ngo residence at 12:47 p.m. regarding a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, …
Davin James Boone, 29
Davin James Boone, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and killed Monday, May 4, in the 4800 block of E. McMillan Street in East Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Shortly before 5:30 a.m., Boone was found in the driver’s seat of a Buick with a gunshot wound, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Nearby residents who heard gunshots called police, Lt. Victor Lewandowski with the Sheriff’s Department said in an e-mail.
Boone was pronounced dead at 5:42 a.m. at the scene, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations for the coroner’s office.
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.
Cassandra Marcella Olsen-Silagyi, 48
Cassandra Marcella Olsen-Silagyi, a 48-year-old black woman, was found dead Monday, May 4, in the 8700 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Panorama City, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Olsen-Silagyi and a 58-year-old man had been sharing an apartment for about a month, authorities said.
Lately, the two had been arguing because the man had tried to evict her. On May 4, police received a call from a woman who said she believed someone was trying to dispose of a body at the apartment building.
Police went to the building and found the woman’s body, stuffed in a closet. Prosecutors said that Olsen-Silagyi had been dead since about May 1.
“What is interesting about this incident is that it started with a phone call to the front desk, and detectives had to put together the pieces of a puzzle to just find the body,” said Lt. Kathleen Burns of …
Jose Ernesto Ruiz, 29
Jose Ernesto Ruiz, a 29-year-old Latino, was fatally shot May 4, 2015, in the 4000 block of West 111th Street in Inglewood, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
About 11 p.m., Edward Manuel Hendrix, a 24-year-old Latino, got into an car crash with another person, according to Sgt. Domenick Recchia with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
Inglewood police arrived about 20 minutes later, took a report and left, Recchia said.
Ruiz arrived 30 minutes after that and pulled alongside Hendrix’s vehicle, Recchia added.
The two men began to argue, Recchia said. At some point, Hendrix pulled out a handgun, fired at Ruiz, and fled on foot, Recchia added.
Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:24 a.m., according to coroner’s records.
Hendrix was arrested two weeks later on an unrelated charge.
Prosecutors on May 21, 2015, charged Hendrix with murder, according to the district attorney's office. On Nov. …
Porche Ledae Charles, 28
Porche Ledae Charles, a 28-year-old black woman, died Sunday, May 3, after she was shot in the 2400 block of West 62nd Street in Hyde Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.
Charles was at a family member’s home celebrating a birthday on May 2, said LAPD Det. Chris Barling. Shortly after 11:30 p.m., Charles was standing on the front porch, he said.
A man walked up and opened fire from the sidewalk. Charles was struck once and taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead at 12:29 a.m. on May 3.
Detectives are looking for witnesses.
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.
FOR THE RECORD
An earlier version of this post, citing coroner's records, said Porche Charles was 30. Her family …
Marco Flores-Mendez, 19
Marco Flores-Mendez, a 19-year-old Latino male, died Sunday, May 3, after being shot in Sun Valley, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.
'We each have a role to play,' pastor says, marking six months since a young father's death
Six months ago, Hannah Petrie was on her way to a meeting when she encountered yellow tape and black and white police cars off Fair Oaks Boulevard in Altadena.
A friend told her that someone had been shot down the street, at Fair Oaks Burger. The crime took place six blocks from her home.
On Thursday evening, Petrie, a local pastor, and the family of the slain man, 26-year-old Christopher Walker, walked from a nearby church to the burger stand.
Petrie, a local pastor, spoke to the group of more than 100 about gang violence.
“Gang violence and tragedy isn’t just a black problem. It’s a community problem; it’s an American problem," she said on a stage set up in the restaurant’s parking lot. "And we each have a role to play in helping our young people reach their potential.”
On Oct. 30, about 4:30 p.m., Christopher Walker was waiting …
At Nickerson Gardens, 'the wall' of names is sacred ground
Here in the Nickerson Gardens public housing project in Watts, it's simply called "the wall."
On it, written in black in Old English script, are the names of the dead.
The first names to grace the wall were those killed in gang violence, but there are also names of people who meant something to the community.
There's Nora King, a longtime community activist in the housing project, who died in 2004 at age 70.
There's the son of Barbara Singleton, who has lived here since the 1970s. Carl "Scoop" Singleton was 16 when he died in a moped accident.
The wall started as a mural on the front of the recreation center gym in the early 1980s. Clifford Baynes Jr. painted figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rep. Maxine Waters, said Greg Brown, who grew up in Watts and was one of the mural's founders.
As time went …