The Homicide Report

Vanessa Renee Rankins, 21

March 31, 2010, 9:43 a.m.

Vanessa Rankins, a 21-year-old black woman, died Wednesday, March 24, a day after she was shot in the head in the 13000 block of Pinney Street in Pacoima, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Rankins was standing with friends on the sidewalk about 10 p.m. Tuesday when an assailant walked up and fired at the group, said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office.

Rankins was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills where she died the next day at 3:55 p.m., said Det. Corey Farell of the LAPD's Foothill Division. Three other people were shot, but their wounds were not fatal, Farell said. Two were released, while one remains in the hospital.

Investigators have not made any arrests in connection with the case, however they are looking for two male Latinos. Farell declined to give more information pending the investigation.

Anyone with information about …

Rocky Lopez, 46 [Updated]

March 31, 2010, 9:42 a.m.

Rocky Lopez, a 46-year-old Latino, died Tuesday, March 23, in the 2800 block of West Pico Boulevard in Pico-Union, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Authorities said Lopez and another person, later identified as his 19-year-old son, Ulices, were run over by a car about 4:15 p.m. in an apparent gang-related attack. When police arrived, they found the victims in the street, said LAPD spokesman Bruce Borihanh.

Both victims were taken to a hospital, where Lopez was pronounced dead. His son suffered from trauma to the head following the incident, but has since been released from the hospital.

The same day of the attack, authorities made two arrests in connection with the case -- Erik Molina, a 28-year-old Latino, and Jesus Espinosa, a 27-year-old Latino.

Molina and Espinosa were charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the death and assault of …

Mario Francisco De Leon Rivera, 51

March 31, 2010, 9:42 a.m.

Mario De Leon Rivera, a 51-year-old Latino, died of multiple gunshot wounds Tuesday, March 23, in the 4100 block of West 29th Street in Jefferson Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Shortly before 6 p.m., De Leon Rivera and two men were walking along the street when two assailants in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire.

LAPD Officer Karen Rayner said De Leon Rivera was pronounced dead at a hospital. The two other men he was with were not hit. Their names were not released.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Sandra Marlene Lopez De Mangandi, 44

March 31, 2010, 9:42 a.m.

Sandra Lopez De Mangandi, a 44-year-old Latina, was shot and killed Tuesday, March 23, in the 100 block of East 56th Street in South Park, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Lopez De Mangandi was found dead about 4:30 p.m. from multiple gunshot wounds in her home, police said. Investigators had not determined a motive for the killing, LAPD Officer Karen Rayner said.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Tyreace Tywayne Ross, 19

March 31, 2010, 9:42 a.m.

Tyreace Ross, a 19-year-old black man, was shot and killed Monday, March 22, at the corner of West Buckthorn Street and Grevillea Avenue in Inglewood, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said the shooting occurred at midnight. The victim was taken to a hospital in Westwood where he died at 7:05 p.m. from complications from a gunshot wound to the head.

-- Sarah Ardalani

Times coverage: Man pleads guilty to torture, arson in killing of homeless man

March 30, 2010, 1:25 p.m.

Ben Matthew Martin, a 31-year old white man, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of first-degree murder, torture and arson causing great bodily injury to John McGraham, a 55-year-old white homeless man.

On the evening of Oct. 9, 2008, Martin approached McGraham, doused him with gasoline, then used a road flare to set the victim on fire, according to prosecutors. Martin was arrested in connection with the killing a little more than three months later.

Shelby Grad has more on the case on L.A. Now: Martin's arrest and conviction.

Photo: John Robert McGraham, seen in 2006, was doused with gasoline and burned to death Oct. 9 near 3rd and Berendo streets in the Mid-Wilshire area. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Update: Conviction and sentencing in racially motivated killing of James Shamp, 48

March 30, 2010, 1:04 p.m.

A little more than a year after the racially motivated killing of James Shamp, a 48-year-old black man, the prosecution of his killers appears to be drawing to a close.

Last week, Richard Bordelon, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit murder, as well as admitting to special-circumstance allegations of drive-by murder, racial killing and that he was an active gang member at the time of the offense, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Akemon of the Hardcore Gang Division.

The defendant confessed that the victim was killed because he was African American, officials with the district attorney's office said. Los Angeles police sources said the case was part of a larger series of incidents in which Latino gang members in the West Valley threatened blacks and sprayed racist graffiti.

At Bordelon’s March 24 appearance, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge …

Times coverage: Mother killed 18 months after husband and daughter found dead

March 30, 2010, 11:42 a.m.

Photo: A man walks through the apartment building where Karine Hakobyan lived. Hakobyan's body was found in the driver's seat of her car last Friday night at her apartment. She had been shot. (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)

In 2008, The Times reported on the double homicide of Khachik Safaryan, 43, and his daughter Lusine Safaryan, 8, who were found slain in their Hollywood home on the morning of Dec. 11. Lusine's sister, who was 12 at the time, discovered the bodies. After the unsolved killings, the girl and her mother, Karine Hakobyan, moved to a nearby apartment.

On Friday, March 26, Hakobyan, 38, was discovered dead by her surviving child, now 14. She had been shot in the head.

Times reporters Andrew Blankstein and Ching-Ching Ni have more on the story:

On a fall afternoon in 2008, a 12-year-old girl arrived home from school and discovered her father and 9-year-old sister shot to death inside the family’s Hollywood apartment.
Eighteen months later, the girl, now 14, came home to an empty apartment Friday night. She got worried when her mother didn’t come home from …

Update: Authorities say false rumor of affair fueled killing of Larry Duran Jr.

March 29, 2010, 1:46 p.m.

A reader asked for an update in the Nov. 28, 2009 killing of Larry Duran Jr., a 29-year old Latino whose alleged shooter had been on the run from authorities.

Photo: Larry Duran Jr. Credit: Family photo. At the time of his death, authorities said Duran was confronted at his place of work about 1 p.m. by Julio Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Latino. After arguing with Duran, who was working in the 16100 block of Nordhoff Street in North Hills, Rodriguez allegedly ordered him into his car, drove him to an alley, then shot him several times as he tried to escape, police said.

Rodriguez then fled in his car. Witnesses told detectives that the pair had been in a dispute because Duran was having an affair with Rodriguez’s girlfriend.

Duran was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:36 p.m., according to coroner’s records.

Julio Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Latino, is accused of killing Larry Duran Jr., a 29-year-old Latino. After two months on the run, U.S. Marshalls arrested Rodriguez on Jan. …

Times coverage: USC student's 1994 shooting could be reopened as a homicide case

March 26, 2010, 2:24 p.m.

Lisa La Pierre spent 15 years on a ventilator and in a wheelchair. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / December 30, 1999) Times reporter Kate Linthicum has more on Lisa La Pierre, a 42-year-old white woman who died in a hospital Monday, Jan. 18, more than 15 years after she was shot at Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue in West Hollywood. A gang member who pleaded guilty to attempted murder and served time in a juvenile jail could face new charges in her death.

In 2000, The Times wrote about the gun used in La Pierre's shooting, a .380-caliber Beretta which had been stolen in a burglary and was then used by gang members to rake a bloody trail across the city from 1994 to 1996.

Linthicum has the story on her case since:

In 1994, someone walked up to Lisa La Pierre's parked car in West Hollywood, thrust a gun through the cracked window and fired.

The bullet didn't kill La Pierre, but it ended life as she knew …

Arraignment: Young men disrupt courtroom during appearance of accused killer of Carlos Rodriguez, 17

March 24, 2010, 5:58 p.m.

Alfredo Escobedo, a 21-year-old Latino, was arraigned Tuesday in Downey Municipal Court on charges of murder and attempted murder in the death of Carlos Rodriguez, a 17-year-old Latino, who was shot and killed Saturday. Feb. 22 while driving in South Gate.

As attorneys prepared for their upcoming cases before Commissioner Burt Barnett, a man who appeared to be in his late teens to early twenties, also Latino, began to laugh in the gallery.

The bailiff told the young man to stop. Instead, he laughed again. At that point the bailiff asked him to leave and he stood up, asking, “Why do I have to leave?”

The bailiff told him he had been asked to stop laughing and needed to leave the courtroom. The young man then exited the court.

Several minutes later, he returned and sat back down with a group of young men. The bailiff saw him and again …

Settlement: Inglewood to pay $2.45 million in police shooting case

March 23, 2010, 2:08 p.m.

Photo: Candles stand at a memorial for Michael Byoune shortly after he was shot and killed by Inglewood police in 2008. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Times reporter Andrew Blankstein has the story about Inglewood's decision to page $2.45 million to settle claims in connection to the shooting of several unarmed men shot at by police. The claims to be settled include a payout to the family of Michael Byoune, a 19-year-old black man, who was shot and killed by Inglewood police May 11, 2008 in the 3000 block of Manchester Boulevard.

Inglewood will pay $2.45 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought the families of three men who were shot, one of them fatally, by police officers who mistakenly believed gunfire was coming from the vehicle the three were riding in, according to a tentative settlement.
Michael Byoune died from his wounds, and driver Larry White and passenger Chris Larkin were injured in the shooting by Inglewood officers on May 11, 2008 (Mother's Day) outside a Rally's restaurant. Jacqueline Seabrooks, chief of the 190-member …

Daisy Funes, 30 [Updated]

March 23, 2010, 9:18 a.m.

Daisy Funes, a 30-year-old Latina, died Monday, March 22, in the 14600 block of Calvert Street in Van Nuys, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

At about 1 a.m., authorities saw a man running from a residence, said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. When they entered the location, they found Funes' body, Winter said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:50 a.m., he said.

Coroner's officials initially said Funes died of blunt-force trauma and listed her case as a homicide. Coroner's officials have since deferred a final determination in the case pending additional tests that will not be available for another six to eight weeks.

[Updated Feb. 28, 2011: Coroner's officials said Funes' death was ultimately ruled a homicide. She died from multiple traumatic injuries.]

-- Sarah Ardalani

Reginald Montanez, 21

March 23, 2010, 9:18 a.m.

Reginald Montanez, a 21-year-old black man, was shot and killed Sunday, March 21, in the 300 block of East 107th Street in Green Meadows, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Montanez was with two friends standing in front of a residence about 5 p.m. when a vehicle approached and the driver fired at the men, said Detective Gerry Pantoja of the LAPD Criminal Gang division.

Montanez suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to Harbor UCLA Medical Center, where he died at 7:13 p.m., said Ed Winter, a spokesman for the coroner's office. His friends were not injured. [An earlier version of this post incorrectly referred to Harvard UCLA Medical Center.]

Det. Pantoja said Montanez had no gang affiliations and he believes the incident was a case of mistaken identity. Authorities do not have any leads on the assailant.

Anyone with information about Montanez's death is asked to call …

Domingo Reyes, 33

March 23, 2010, 9:18 a.m.

Domingo Reyes, a 33-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Sunday, March 21, in the 700 block of Alvarado Street in Westlake, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Reyes was at Alberto's Barber Shop when an unknown assailant wearing a blue hoodie jacket with the hood up walked in and shot him as he sat getting his hair cut shortly after 6:30 p.m. The gunman shot Reyes three times, twice in the body and once in the head, said Officer Gregory Baek, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. No one else was hurt, police said.

Reyes was pronounced dead at a hospital at 7:01 p.m., according to coroner's records.

Authorities, who are still investigating, believe the shooting was gang-related. Anyone with information is asked to call LAPD homicide detectives at (213) 484-3650.

-- Patrick J. McDonnell

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