Jesus Zapata, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was struck by gunfire at 8331 Westman Ave. in the Whittier area and died at 3:39 p.m. Wednesday, July 4. He was shot about 3 p.m. and died at a hospital.

Flora Maxine Tyler, a 60-year-old black female, died Wednesday, July 4, in Broadway-Manchester, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Thomas Turcios, a 37-year-old Latino male, died Tuesday, July 3, in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Joshua Davis, 18, a young black man, was shot in the 1900 block of Thoreau Street in Westmont about 1:05 a.m. Tuesday, July 3 . He died at 1:15 a.m. He was standing near a parked car when three people drove by in a light-colored car and shot him. He died at the scene.

Dispatch: I told him I didn't want him to leave this world [Originally published July 4, 2007]

Joshua Davis was tall and skinny and chocolate-brown. The middle child, he filled his parents' house with laughter--and a certain amount of drama.

Asked what the 18-year-old liked most to do, his parents, Greg and Lisa Davis, answered in unison: "Dance." He loved music and singing, too. He played the drums in church. He played basketball before dropping out of Washington High School. He worked as a prep cook at the Red Lobster restaurant in Inglewood.

Joshua was …

Continue reading »

William Vasquez, 43, a Latino man, was shot several times by a police officer at 18325 Mansel Ave. in Torrance and died at 5:44 p.m. Monday, July 2.

Torrance police officers responded to a call of a man with knife cuts on his stomach who was threatening to kill himself. He had reportedly hit his wife. Officers went in and tried to negotiate with Vasquez. What happened next is unclear. Police issued a news release saying only that an "officer-involved shooting occurred." Vasquez was transported by paramedics to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. 

Nadine Stauffer, a 54-year-old white woman, was shot multiple times at a trailer park at 3255 E. Avenue R in Palmdale and died about 8:40 a.m. Monday, July 2.

Stauffer was visiting the trailer of a white man and companion. Police believe he killed her and then himself. The man's brother came to the trailer that morning and discovered their bodies.

Anthony Perez, 21, a Latino man, was shot in the chest at 2101 Easy Ave. in Long Beach and died at 4:50 a.m. Monday, June 2.

Dara Ork, a 22-year-old man of Cambodian descent, was stabbed in the face, chest and hand in an alley at 1186 E. 17th St. in Long Beach and died at 11:03 p.m. Sunday, July 1. A number of people were fighting, and Ork was stabbed. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

His was one of four homicide deaths in Long Beach over the June 30-July 1 weekend.

Yessenia Macias, 20, a Latina woman, received a single gunshot wound to the head in the parking lot of the Townhome Motel at 3204 W. Main St. in Alhambra and died at 10:50 p.m. Sunday, July 1.

Investigators described the gunshot as coming out of nowhere. They said the woman and the Latino man she was with had just pulled their car into the motel parking lot. He got out, and as he did so heard a gunshot. He looked at Macias and saw that she was hit. He took her to Los Angeles Community Hospital, and from there she was transferred to County-USC Medical Center, where she died.

Cesar Rolando Moran, 24, a Latino man, was shot multiple times in the head at 437 W. Willow St. in Long Beach and died at 9:43 p.m. Sunday, July 1.

The shooting took place at a bar about 9:40 p.m. Another bar patron is the suspect. Moran and the suspect had gotten into some kind of fight or argument, and the assailant shot him and fled. Moran died at the scene. The suspect is a Latino man in his 20s driving a gray or silver pickup truck.

Eric Perez, 31, a Latino man, was shot at 15940 Los Alimos St. in Mission Hills and died at 12:48 a.m. Sunday, July 1.

He was a guest at a birthday party on the block. The party hosts had nothing to do with gangs, but members of two rival gangs apparently crashed the event, said Det. Jim Freund of the LAPD Mission Division station.

Perez walked out and was at the end of the driveway when partygoers heard several shots. He had been hit several times and collapsed in the driveway. His brother drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police had documented Perez as a gang member. He was from Arleta, they said.

Aurelio Perez, a 21-year-old Latino man, was shot in the abdomen, possibly with a shotgun, at 1518 Pine Ave. in Long Beach and died at 9:43 p.m. Sunday, July 1.

Officers got a call of a man with a gunshot wound. They raced to the scene and found Perez with a wound to his torso. They called an ambulance, but paramedics could not revive him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Juan Cristales, 27, a Latino man, was shot in the back at 4775 S. Broadway in South-Central Los Angeles and died at 10:12 p.m. Saturday, June 30.

This happened on the street in LAPD's Newton Division. Cristales had been at a party, and left to walk down the street to take a picture of his car. It was a new car, and he wanted to show off the picture of it to his friends at the party. But on the way, he got into a quarrel with men on the street, members of a local gang.

He went back to the party, got his friends, and returned with them as a group to face off with the men. There was an argument; then things seemed to have calmed down. But at the last instant, one the men pulled a gun and shot Cristales. He was taken to California Hospital, where …

Continue reading »

Mertel Millender, 19, a young black man, was shot multiple times in front of 10701 Fracar St. in Lynwood, and died at 12:06 a.m. Saturday, June 30. It was a fight after a party.

Samuel Robert Desrosiers, a 23-year-old white male, died Friday, June 29, in Santa Fe Springs, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.