Arraignment: 21-year-old charged in killing of high school football star [Updated]

Feb. 2, 2010, 9:12 p.m.

Arlon Watson, a 21-year-old black man, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on the charge that he killed a high school football star last May at a Compton restaurant in the 1900 block of West Rosecrans Avenue , authorities said.

Watson is charged with one count of murder in connection with the May 24 shooting of Dannie Farber Jr., an All-City wide receiver for Narbonne High School, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

According to County Jail records, Watson was arrested Jan. 28 and is being held without bail.

Times' staff writer Robert Lopez has more on the case on L.A. Now: Man to be arraigned in slaying of L.A. high school football star

Updated Feb. 4: The following is an excerpt from Times' reporters Alexandra Zavis and Richard Winton's article on the investigation that led to Watson's arrest:

The shooting death last May of high school football star Dannie Farber Jr. left his family, friends and teammates in disbelief and authorities mystified. For months, investigators struggled to determine the identity of the young man in a hooded sweat shirt and baseball cap who confronted the Narbonne High senior in a Compton chicken restaurant, where Farber was eating dinner with his girlfriend.

"Where are you from?" the suspect allegedly demanded. Farber stood up, apparently aware of the danger, and replied, "I don't gangbang," according to prosecutors.

Moments later, Farber -- three weeks from graduation -- was shot dead as his girlfriend watched.

The killer fled, and the trail quickly grew cold. Though the incident was captured on the Louisiana Fried Chicken restaurant's surveillance video, the killer's face was not visible. Though witnesses and locals stayed quiet, authorities said Wednesday that the killer did not.

Keep reading: Gang member held in killing of football star

Top photo: Arlon Watson, 21, appears in court Wednesday after being charged with murder. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Bottom photo: Dannie Farber, 18. Credit: Scott Varley / Torrance Daily Breeze.

39 reader comments

S.D...writing what you consider accurate history here does not give other Black people the right to shoot and kill other Black people. The problem here is that "we" are the downfall to ourselves. There is no one "oppressing" us. It seems that you are OK with this because the "white" people brought our ancestors over on slave ships and the government had covert operations that harmed black people, oh and lest I not forget the fact that the government brought drugs to S. CA. And to all that I say, SO WHAT!! The Tuskegee experiment harmed those families, not ganbangers! Drugs were brought over, but where the drugs stuffed down our throats...I guess so, because we did it to ourselves. We as a people have to get off of the BS and start to take responsibility for our own actions and our own kids and our own neighborhoods. This scum chose to kill this kid because he wanted to, not because of 400 years of oppression. Come on, get with it...To spit history is nothing...oh, and BTW, there is a lot of controversy regarding if Willie Lynch was even a real person, now figure out why that is!!

— Kenya Feb. 26, 2010 at 9:25 a.m.

Of course i didnt testify! Would you testify? Are you and your family ready to die for a stranger. Not only that hearsay is not admissable in court, and if the streets are talking then the police already know who actually did it but they cant do anything about it without either a murder weapon or a witness. Anything else will get thrown out, and now all you did is put yourself on the list of next to go! The DA is usually only concerned about convictions and has a witness that believes they saw a certain person do a certain thing or a friend is caught with the murder weapon and cant tell. Guilty by association I agree, but to die for it is something different. Read the rest of my message before running off on a tangent. Conviction does not always equal guilt. That was my point. Again senseless act such as this can be prevented if we get off of our couches and computers and physically show our youth that they have other alternatives in life as I do.

— Wacc Feb. 23, 2010 at 1:06 p.m.

I agree in theory with the last two posts, and some of the others, but the problem with that emerges at the fact that there are folks in jail on murder charges that did not actually commit the crimes they are incarcerated for. Having been involved with gangs and the gang element I have seen many times young black men arrested and convicted of murder and other serious crimes that they did not actually commit. Usually a result of not having the finances to fight the case and being assigned a public defender that does not have the time, resources, or desire to represent them effectively. And these are not assumptions of guilt of murder but factual mistaken identities as the "known real killers" walk the streets under the cloud of the "no-snitch" street rule. I have a problem with the common man playing God when it comes to the punishment of criminals. The real answer to this problem is real alternatives and physical examples of executing these alternatives that lead to real-life successes. We must show or youth a tangible "better way". Stop talking to them about it and hold their hands and show them. Our streets are much safer today than they were 10, 15, and 20 years ago. We must change what is consider cool, powerful and succesful. As the gangster image and mystique dies, so will the culture.

— Wacc Feb. 16, 2010 at 12:01 p.m.

I say the only and very best way to solve the matters of killings on our streets, is to goe do a big sweep of the gang members in our areas, send them to war and let them get the very, real taste of hurt and death,and when they do I really do not think they would ver think the same about a neigbor hood again.we all say stop the vilence but what do we do about it we are more talk then they are murders,people we need to stop being affraid and step up for our young children, that is children want to be someone,when someone dies , we all have comments but what good do it do to our world of mad people out there?ived lost my little brother lke that,cruel world of insane people. why not we have congress to make better and stricter laws out in our world,just like we can celebraite a holiday we all as people need to come together, and fill in our law instead of waiting around for another kid to be killed on our streets. we should take action on our matters of behalf lets come together stop talkng and march for our oeace, it will happen if we do. insted of us looking down on each other lets do it. lets all come with our time of marching and days and take care of bussiness. just dont wite until we lose someone we all need to save this now we need to take full action without waiting for A super hero fallin out the sky we are all that super hero for our children and love ones.people lets march and do it until we get the power to over come. we dont need to wait no more.

— owen Feb. 15, 2010 at 5:11 a.m.

I am a 40+ hispanic, who grew up in a typical LA neighborhood, with a typical local gang. I remember seeing the gangbangers, I remember my elementary school friend whose older brother was in the gang, and I don't know what happened to him later, if he joined the gang or not. But I went to jr high and high school where I came into contact with other gangs and I CHOSE to play sports, I CHOSE to graduate, and I CHOSE college and getting a degree. Others around me made other choices. Were there drugs around? yes. Were there guns around? probably. But I CHOSE not to make that my life. I don't think I was oppressed, my family was poor, mom cleaned houses, dad worked different jobs, lived in a 1 bedroom apartment, with my younger brother whos is now working in a very critical city job. I dunno if we were "oppressed", we never felt that way or cried about it. I don't know if the CIA ran guns and drugs in my hood, cause I CHOSE to stay away from that stuff. There were probably many crossroads in my life, where I had to make some tough choices, and I for the most part, I made the right ones. In the end, we are mostly responsible for our choices, not some government conspiracy and events that took place 400 years ago. Yes those things might affect our lives, but we choose how much impact external forces have. Mostly though, I think my family was the biggest and most important influence in all of my decicions. If not for their support and love, I'd been another statistic. The victim in this case, he made the right choices too, and he grew up in the same environment as the coward that killed him. That as an important fact. Two young man who grew up in the same environment and take opposite paths. same hood, same "oppression", same burden of history, and yet, polar opposites. I think if you dig deep enough, you will find the difference is simple, a caring, loving FAMILY.

— rickinla Feb. 14, 2010 at 8:22 p.m.

Before reading my post, please keep in mind that racism is deeply rooted in our countries history. Also many of the descendants/beneficiaries of slavery and "Jim Crow" still run our country at both state and federal levels.
Most intellectuals realize that our government has performed a number of covert operations throughout our history. These covert initiatives are usually in the name of some elite group's vested interest. Unfortunately some of these secret initiatives have been designed to negatively impact most non-whites for generations. For example, the Tuskegee experiment affected generations of blacks in the south. In May of 1997, President Bill Clinton made a formal apology on behalf of the U.S. government for the illegal and immoral study that targeted only blacks in the south. (Please educate yourself on this study if you haven’t already). And how may former CIA agents have to publicly admit our government covertly moved dope and guns all over southern California to help fund the Contras fight the Sandinista govt. in Nicaragua. (Please educate yourself on the Iran Contra Affair). I hate to think of all the un-leaked covert operations that have affected generations of Blacks, Hispanics, and poor Whites throughout American history. So if you are really a rational thinker, don't every suggest that Black on Black crime as it is in our country is not designed.(Please educate yourself on Willie Lynch).

— SD Feb. 10, 2010 at 12:19 p.m.

My prayers go out to the family of Mr. Farber. This young high school athlete was out on a date with his girlfiend having dinner and minding his own business when this cowardly unbalanced thug walked up and asks "Where you from?" and then shot him in cold blood?
The alledged murderer is a coward and the latest in a long line of urban terrorists who must be stopped from continuing. Must we as law abiding citizens have to sit back and watch as Los Angeles slowly dissolves into becoming another Detroit? Must we add more Police and Police stations in these urban areas to intimidate these terrorists to crawl back into the car trunk they came out of? Should we re-think about the value of the death penalty and bring it back? There has to be a way to stop these senseless slayings and to intimidate the perpetrators of these crimes and intimidate those who may conduct these crimes in the future. Maybe it is time for law abiding citizens to make an example of this alledged murderer and see to it that through the law he is given a stiffer penalty for his actions if he is found guilty. The penalty should be the ultimate recourse for this obvious unsettling crime, any ideas?

— kanye Feb. 7, 2010 at 8:48 a.m.

@ Mr. Hyde. I apologize but I do not understand your comment. A young male murders another young male, and you speak of "hate for the police".

It seems as you attempt an excuse for this young mans behavior. Are you stating 'murdering another young man is acceptable or rationalized by the idea one may have hate for police which may have done wrong to him or his community at some point'?

I am a white felon who has been arrested more than 2 dozen times. Less than 10 of my arrests were warranted.

If I was to go out, and murder a young man eating dinner with his girlfriend for the reasons he was in "my hood" and I did not recognize him, would I be able to justify that murder by blaming police officers that arrested me for less than legitimate reasons?

The answer of course is no. Save the anti-police comments for those that actually have been or are abused by police. This young man does not deserve any excuses for his behavior, this young man deserves no 'outs'.

— LongWayFromLA Feb. 6, 2010 at 9:18 p.m.

This is what happens when these thugs have nothing more to live for, and when they're not happy, they sure as heck don't want you to be happy. It's so sad that our youth now days feel that the only way to solve a problem is to kill, and from what I read about Dannie he could have been one we would have been proud of as a home town hero, and his family and friends wearing his #4 jersey. But that coward stole all of it from them, killing for a hood that could give a dame about him. It will be really interesting to know; how many of his homies from the hood that he killed for will come to see him in prison. I could bet not a one, and before long they will have forgotten about him altogether; so my question to him why be loyal to a hood that is not loyal to you. That scum-bag should spend the rest of his natural life in prison like an animal, and be with all the other bad asses like him, so he could see just how bad he really is.

— Just Say'n Feb. 6, 2010 at 4:55 p.m.

I wanted to address the question posted from a reader about the homicide rates for blacks in L.A. County. Here is an excerpt from our FAQ post on why we include race/ethnicity in our posts:

Race and ethnicity, like age and gender, are stark predictors of homicide risk. Blacks are much more likely to die from homicide than whites, and Latinos somewhat more likely. Black men, in particular, are extraordinarily vulnerable: They are less than 9% of the county's population, but they represented nearly a third of homicide victims over the three years of data in the Homicide Report. That means one in a 1,000 blacks became homicide victims over those three years, more than 10 times the rate for whites and nearly four times the rate for Latinos.

— Megan Garvey/Los Angele Times Feb. 5, 2010 at 6:58 p.m.

The Homicide Report

Arraignment: 21-year-old charged in killing of high school football star [Updated]

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