The Homicide Report

A story for every victim

The Homicide Report

Died on
June 13, 2014

Vermont Vista
8628 S. Figueroa St.
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Cause: Gunshot
Race/Ethnicity: Black
Agency: LAPD

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Jacinta Walker, 18

June 13, 2014

Jacinta Walker, an 18-year-old black woman, was shot and killed Friday, June 13, in the 8600 block of South Figueroa Street on the border of Vermont Vista and Vermont Knolls, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. Two other people died in the same shooting.

Walker and her boyfriend, Aveion Bolden, along with two others, were in the back seat of a silver Toyota Camry about 10 p.m. getting ready to go on a double date when a red Nissan Altima with two people inside pulled up beside them, said Los Angeles police Det. Dave Garrido.

A person inside the Nissan fired about 10 times, striking Walker and Bolden.

Anthony Alonzo Cudger, a 25-year-old black man who was inside the Toyota, returned fire, striking Trevor Andre Williams, a 33-year-old African American who was in the passenger seat of the Nissan.

Walker and Bolden were pronounced dead at the scene at 10:20 p.m., according to coroner’s records.

Williams was driven to a nearby fire station, at South Main Street and East 108th Street. He was found dead inside the car. The driver, a black man, fled.

Cudger was arrested on suspicion of murder but was released June 17. Prosecutors declined to file charges because the investigation found that Cudger had acted in self-defense, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney.

The shooting was the latest in an ongoing feud between two street gangs – the Main Street Crips and the Hoover Crips, authorities said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (213) 485-1383. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Nicole Santa Cruz

Follow the story

Radio show 'Gang Talk' takes on violence in South L.A.

Oct. 24, 2014, 5 a.m.
At Vermont Vista vigil, a mother's grief is just beginning

June 21, 2014, 7:45 p.m.
Jacinta Walker, 18

June 13, 2014, midnight

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73 reader comments

Respect is due to respect it doesn't matter if she was involved with gangs or not she was still a human being that better late than never put forth effort to change your life people on this Earth are so quick to pass judgement cast the stone point the finger and they will be the very same people that won't won't move a muscle to be a positive motivation I know everyone knows the slogan if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all if you're not going to contribute to the situation there's no need 2 be a part of the situation with their thoughts opinions and disrespectful comments this is not about what my niece was or her boyfriend it's more about who they were and what we as a people can do to eliminate such senseless violence towards our children I do agree that everything starts with self get parents can only hold their child's hand so long before they have to let them go into the world and the decisions that are children made nine times out of ten it's not because of the lack of parenting but it's because of what the adults generation after generation of them showing and proving of the behavior that eventually detours the child into making the decision of being a gang member just because your gang member does not mean you're worthless does not mean that your life is less meaningful than one who is not a gang member from experience I've been active in the Careless World since I was 9 years old I became very active in gangs by the time I was twelve today your 2016 I am 36 years old never going to felon still breathing walk from Vernon and Hoover everyday to 11th Ave to go to Crenshaw High School saying that to say my niece was not a bad person because she affiliate herself with the gang life the bad person was the one who gave the signal to set up the shooting and that person and God knows what the truth is

— latasha Covington July 11, 2016 at 11:15 p.m.

I would like to start off first by saying the violence is very senseless and has become very careless 4life no matter the age it is the people behind the guns that take the lives of the people at the barrel of the gun jacinta Walker is my niece she's been gone for quite a while now yet it's just like yesterday no one is perfect but she was very much loved and her life then and now will always have meaning to those who truly knew her watching her grow was an honor because having that opportunity was a learning experience for me as her aunt I only met one person that was ever introduced as her boyfriend although I did not know him very long his loyalty love and respect that he showed to my son in his last days left an impression and gave him all the love and respect from me so it's really neither here nor there what you are or do while you're here on Earth because you're still Someone's child sister brother cousin friend in one way or another there was a legacy left behind somewhere somehow someone a plethora of someone's need to take a stand because not only are we losing our black men and women we're also losing our children our futures

— latasha Covington July 11, 2016 at 10:53 p.m.

I'm also a educator in the South Los Angeles area, with LAUSD for over 10 years. The attack on the teacher trying to tell the TRUTH about the lifestyles and home life of this young sister is ridiculous. African Americans are so caught up in chasing fads, being ignorant, speaking broken English (look at some of the post on here to see what I mean), drinking, smoking, banging, having UNPROTECTED sex, and depending on welfare and genreal relief, that they have lost their common sense! I grew up in the Groove. Went to 97th ES, Bret Harte, and Washington Prep. I have never been to jail, no record, completed college, and have worked hard to put myself and my family in a better position than my mother was able to do. I didn't have a father (he died when I was four - my parents were MARRIED). My question is, what is the difference between me and any other child growing up in South LA? THE PARENT! They never hardly come to up to the school and check on their child's progress, but let a concerned teacher tell the truth to their kid acting a ass in class. Then they are ready to come up to the school with the same thuggery these youngsters are displaying. Where they learn it from? Their PARENTS! I'm so sick of the hard working, law abiding, child raising, African Americans get bunched in with these folks who don't give a damn about their own children, and see them as a check, or a benefit rather than looking at them as their LEGACY! Wake up Africans! We are the only ones who can stop this self made genocide against us. Then have the nerve, audacity, to get MAD when someone tries to understand why you allowed your children to be shot down in the streets. What is it my mother knew, that these other women didn't? These are questions we must really ask ourselves and really take a personal look internally about our culture. Until then, we're going to continue living in this condition, and our situation will never change...

— enough is enough Oct. 21, 2015 at 11:10 a.m.

The bitter truth of life and death in South Los Angles is grief and suffering, after the lost of any human life. The youth of this story did not get the change to go to college, get married or too have children. They were teenagers, caught in the crossfire and lost their lives.

The just Judge will pass final judgement in due time, after the whole conclusion of life! Meanwhile, to the family friends who are still living, make the best of this tough situation by helping others through this maze called life and hope that many others can live a full life by what we say and do to make life better and safer!

As for me, its still difficult to cope with the loss of life, and carnage that seems to be at no end. However, I and others continue to promote unity, and respect among all men and women. Most of us have suffered some type of lost along this journey called life, and still, we believe in God, because it is not his doing!

Do something in life to help lead and guide the youth of this generation into another direction at any cost! Not just lip service or criticizing but rather positive action in your community! God will set everything else in order! Be comforted family and friends with these words! Forgiveness and apology on any words that may not comfort these families and please excuse any harsh statements towards your families in your time of grief!

— Rubin Aug. 25, 2014 at 1:59 p.m.

The problem is when the "gang banger is banging its all good, but soon as they get shot dead in the street it is woe is me. It doesn't work that way, stop saying that gang bangers are resting is God's safety, they are on the other side of the gulf! Read your Bible.,,,as far as LA Teacher's comment, it was on point. Instead of rebuking everything she said, why don't try to find the truth in it, because it's there. Do the preventive things before it comes to this. A lot of people have lived in the ghetto and they chose to make a better life for themselves by moving out, so don't throw if you don't live here you don't know card. If it's so bad, do better to get OUT! Don't read through the comments and pick out the ones that offend you, violence offends me, gang banging offends me, enablers offend me. It's a shame this poor young girl lost her life, but she was not the first and won;t be the last. Throwing up gang signs, hanging out with active gun toting felons is not the way, wake up! Stop tryna be a ride or die chick. And if she saw herself that way, then why mourn the death of someone who willingly lived that life and didn't care? Rap music got the youngsters messed up, they think it's cool to be on welfare, having babies, getting tatted, twerking, smoking weed, drinking alcohol, and cool to be called a ho and a Bi##cH, see it everyday where i work. Do better God's people, if you truly know God and the Holy Spirit is in you, your life would not be led this way. You would repent, deny yourself and live for Jesus. You cannot serve 2 masters, so throw out the traditions of men, and ask Jesus to come into your heart and tell him you are sorry for denying righteous and begin to truly live. Read your Bible.

— Truth will set you free Aug. 17, 2014 at 5:51 p.m.

it's quite simple that no one went to parent conferences for her, if that was the case, she wouldn't have been attending a CONTINUATION in the first place! AGAIN, I reside in the middle of this ongoing gang feud and I graduated from school in the area as well. during parent conferences when I were in school, black parents NEVER showed including mine. only LATINO parents showed and you can count the few black parents who actually showed on one hand. it's not a secret that black inner city kids and teens don't have parents to be there for them. it's not a secret that this young girl was a gang member either.

I too, have lost friends and VERY close family members to gang violence but I also understood the path they chose at a very young age. there's nothing you can try to say or prove that this child was innocent. that's the part that I don't find fair at all. you left out all of the pictures she has on facebook throwing up gang signs and I also don't think its fair for everyone to jump on LATeacher... the teacher had a right to express his/her thoughts and its obvious that the truth hurt some family members.

all and all, black parents living in the inner city should be there more often for their kids. its significant that they attend parent conferences, games, ceremonies, etc... they should play a major role in their child's life or else a situation like this can occur or any other unnecessary situation that SHOULD NOT occur. at the end of the day, it's the PARENTS fault because the problem stems from them and their lack of responsibility and knowledge.

— a young realist Aug. 3, 2014 at 5:21 p.m.

My condolence to the family.

Teachers impact students lives, but of course, most results are not immediate. Too bad but she never got the chance to show us all what she is really made of.
There is something known as implied confidentiality. As teachers, we are not allowed to publish or sell information about our students (customers) for public viewing. Besides, none of us really knows all the details involve in this situation

No doubt she would have been amazing and wonderful. By American standards, Jacinta is an adult, In UK, she was an adult at 16; in some other cultures, she would have been married at 14. In the eyes of her parents, she will always be their baby. I remember what I was like at 18, and I am just glad, that I am not 18 anymore - I am mature now. She was young lady coming to her own.

Taken waaaaaaay to soon

— Another Teacher July 12, 2014 at 9:03 a.m.

First of all, I give my condolences to the family. I agree when someone dies why even mention what she did in class? Families come here to express their love on this site and let others know they are more than just a statistic that was killed in the streets. I get it because one of my family members landed on this report. I found it rude and disrespectful when the killers friends and family decided to use the report of my family death as a platform for the killers innocence.

Regardless, as a teacher in the hood one is expose to losing several students. Some you instantly love some you struggle with and think of ways to create a breakthrough and show them the "light". Some you reach out to the family and they become your family others you never hear from the family only when they are looking for donations to bury their child. Question is why wasn't the parents prepared when you know your child wasn't living right? It's only $20-50 a month to have insurance. Ironically, folks spend more money on the dead body than they do on the person when they were alive.

Teaching is a life misson not a career. Although you are teaching your students content standards you are really shinning a light within a light you hope stays lit as they grow into adulthood. I say all this because I hear that teacher hurting not lecturing the family. She/he had Jacinta in the classroom. The teacher was there and gave his/her very best yet Jacinta didn't receive it and gave attitude. So the teacher is questioning him/herself why couldn't he/she reach Jacinta. Could I have said something different to change this outcome? Then it turns into why the parents was not making a difference to have prevented this? Then it balls down to I'm tired of seeing this happen to my students and in my life when its a simple solution to behave well and give it all you got to move up and out of the hood. These are all my personal thoughts when I lost several students to gang violence.

Yet in essence this is not about the teacher although the teacher is hurting too its about Jacinta and her family mourning her lost. May heart goes Jacinta family.

— Teacher from the hood July 5, 2014 at 5:14 a.m.

Well I am an LPN. I make $24 an hour. It's not a bad job but of course RN's make more. Yeah I do think the educator is out of line. But instead of encourage. Show them newspaper clippings of the children that has passed. Show them that if they roll with the wrong crowd 9 times out of 10 you are guilty by association and you don't know what type of shit your so called friend is in to. My mother who was raised in Watts taught me that. I was raised in Long Beach. Also my mother did not allow me to run the streets that late and once I became an adult (18) I continue what was grind in me. I saw my friends die, my cousins die, hell my cousins have killed as well. My mother did not want that life for me and my brother and moved us from Long Beach to Orange county when I was 12, then from Orange county to Georgia when I was 14. As a mother, if you know you living in a rough neighborhood move if you care about your kids well being. If you know you don't have an education to produce the funds needed to move... then don't have kids. And if you don't heed, then be ready because your chances of this happening will be realized. This post is not to talk about the girl. It is for parents including hers. I would move out of there with my remaining children. I was raped at 13 and that is why my mother moved to GA, Got me some help and I am fine now. Parents need to take more responsibility. I knew a heroin addict, and I asked her when she was gonna have kids because she was 35. She Lukaea with my habit I cannot provide the life a child needs, I would love to have a kid, but only a selfish person would bring an innocent child into the world knowing they wont be able to care for them or do everything in their power to help that child. Whether it be behaviors , drugs, sex whatever. Drug addicts are smart too. I am sorry that she lost her life. The teacher is wrong for what she said period, the girls parent need to do something to protect the remainder children if any. God bless this family.

— Lukaea July 1, 2014 at 11:24 p.m.

I agree with Joe there is a time and place for everything and this was not the time for L.A. Teacher to not show compassion, and empathy her opinion was indeed true but should not have been expressed such as it was at a distressing and difficult time for the family of this young lady,what she said may have been true about this young lady but the fact is we can't dwell on the wish I coulda.woulda,shoulda syndrome you can't make a child learn anything if it's not in their mind and heart to do so.Our children learn by the example that we as parents set for them if we don't care neither will they if we don't impress upon them the need to get a quality education than who will?? this responsibility should rest upon any Teachers shoulder it starts with us the parents the scriptures plainly tells us to train up a child according to the way and when he gets old he want depart from it this includes mentally and physical training but more importantly spiritually for it covers all other aspects of ones life so my sympathy to this family and the young man's family who lost his life as well.

— rosemary davis July 1, 2014 at 6:33 p.m.

They don't know unless they live here.. that's it, that's all..
They can speculate and comment all they want, but they know nothing about how it is in South Central.. I'm 29, never gang banged a day in my life; but even I have been shot at before for simply no reason at all other than I looked like someone else.
Just living here you are gonna experience some type of violence, there's no way around it.
Everyone in this community is angry, these kids just don't know who to be angry at.
But there's nothing an outsider can say or do to change this, our change has to come from within.
We have to be stronger as a community and provide more for our youth.
You can say don't gang bang or don't sell drugs but we have to provide an alternative or we are just wasting our voices.
Most of these kids born in the 90's don't know much else. They were born into the gang banging and the drugs.
On another note that was a young queen that was killed and people should not be questioning her lifestyle, we should mourn her and learn from her. that's how she shall live forever

— olee3000 June 30, 2014 at 5:23 p.m.

I am So very sorry for your loss. But I am a bit bothered by this LA teacher's insensitivity, I cant help myself but to speak out. Educators should know when its time to teach and in which forums, obviously there are problems but address them to the proper authorities, be compassionate. it is not necessary to point out things unless your in the right forum to teach lessons, these adults are not in school and live in the neighborhood, they know what they are up against.
I have been taught that there is times for everything and this is the loved ones time to grieve in their own ways and maybe tell stories here. truth be told LA teacher you should have known better, but a hard head is a hard head and will not see fault in ones self no matter how insensitive. Maybe you could teach better in a way that people will listen, as in this example you are teaching the wrong way.
Sometimes opinons or lessons should be kept to oneself or shared properly, as to show respect for everyone involved here. I am just a passerby who didnt know the girl, just know manners and respect and compassion. Maybe even teachers need to learn something.
And for the families here I am so sorry to hear about your loss. It is sad to learn of this, I wish I could have known her.

— JOE June 30, 2014 at 12:34 p.m.

God Bless all the families this is such a tragedy for any mother to lose a child (regardless of age). I do understand what everyone here is saying on both sides. This is an open forum not a private page of the family so it is appropriate for people to share their views. Yes, we hope they are "positive" ones. I don't know Jacinta but on social networks I have seen her story and pictures being shared in honor of her memory and on 65% of the pictures she was throwing up gang signs. That does not take a way from her as being a wonderful person as people have shared, But it does make her guilty by association and increased her chances of being killed in such a horrible way.
Let's not let Jacinta's death be in vain and make a change by being accountable, and teaching our children...more importantly SHOWING BY EXAMPLE. It's very hard to not personalize things at such a time like this.To Jacinta's family & friends God bless you and I am sorry that you have to endure such pain. But lets all be better and accountable for one another as part of the solution and not the problem to stop the killing of our kids!

It is coming out a place of love....I'm a mother and I can't imagine losing any of my kids.

— Jennifer "Jenny from the block" June 25, 2014 at 10:48 p.m.

To the teacher,i live in south la,I see the kids.I myself have a angry daughter.I was raise with morales and values.The problem is the State has took the rights away from parents,good hard working parents and then want to give parenting classes, with people who have no clue of a black child or a black family.Im sick of these non profit agency,that only give the resources to those close to them their churches their jobs.The question is resources are here.who's on the recieveing end.look around.Th statement you made about a LPN.well im one,I make $16 from a fulltime and $13 from part time job.The young lady had a dream and that's says a lot.Children don't dream anymore in south central,but she did and that's a start.Being a LPN takes a special person.wait till yu get old and no one wants to care for you.remember what you said about Jacinta.Since you're a teacher I have some homework for you.Research what a LPN does,if the medical community faze it out would a LVN or a RN do the job a LPN does.After a surgery who do you think nurse you back to help.Not the doctor or the RN...do the homework teacher.Being somebody is worth more than being a nobody.Try encouragement and going the extra mile than condemning.ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE...

— Anderson June 25, 2014 at 4:36 p.m.

When you are a young lady and think with the mind that only a young lady has to work with, all you know is the reality of what you see. "Yes" sometimes the most that some young ladies will ever get to see and experience are the few blocks that surround the only place they know of as home. I grew up amongst those blocks, I was one of those young girls, most of my friends parents being on welfare and food stamps. I went to school angry everyday! Anger from being molested had overwhelmed me. Yes teachers told me there was more but they didn't live in my world, they could tell me anything but at the end of the day they got to go to their own home, their own side of the world, the part of the world outside my realm of sight that I never knew could even exist outside my own five mile world. Don't ever think you could put yourself in Jacinta's world, maybe an alcoholic mother, non existent father, drug addicted grandmother and terminal illness played a role in who she would ever have the opportunity to grow up and be. Maybe LPN in your an outside teachers world isn't worth anything but in Jacinta's world it was far above being on welfare! I know the streets she came from, I had never seen a successful black person until I was grown up, welfare, crack addicted drunkards were the only thing I saw, children using their bodies to survive, using their bodies as their only means to find the love they were so desperately seeking. Judgmental teachers who were quick to speak but who didn't have the ears to hear our screaming for help. Anger is our reaction towards our lack of a voice and the absence of hope.

— Anonymous June 25, 2014 at 1:13 p.m.

Why the "awareness speech" now? Because now is the only time and place I can voice it. Because Jacinta is dead and she shouldn't be. And no one seems to want to deal with that part of it.

Instead of questioning the timing of my observations please reflect on why I am providing them in this forum. Because it is typically rare for me to be able to speak with a parent in this honest way. If it helps someone to wake up another child or stay on a kid about going to school, or making them fill out their FAFSA for financial aid, or take that internship, or stress that they are behind them 100% in resisting peer pressure- that's why I say these things. Look around- if there is a young person who needs that constant help, please provide it. It is no accident that the girls with the highest level academic skills are the ones getting pregnant- they are being pressured not to achieve - where is that coming from? Support these young men and women to realize that procreating at 15 and then using that as an excuse with your teacher why you couldn't come to school is not being a man or a woman. Everyone needs to help.

— LA Teacher June 24, 2014 at 5:48 p.m.

LA Teacher,
I think in a lot of ways...by the time a teenager gets to you they are a lost cause! I know by the time they reach me there isn't much I can do. It is up to them to want to change. Motivation is not a trait that is admired in the ghetto. There are a whole bunch of traits that are not only not admired but frowed on like, success, encouragement, hard work. I have heard a million reason's as to why these traits are not encouraged and it just makes me sick. There are a few people that live and grow up in the ghetto that strive for more that need more. When you get a person who still lives there after 4 or 5 generations...those are the ones that are too difficult to reach and to try to change that mentality is nearly impossible. I take it for what it is...glad when I can reach one out of every 100 young men that I come in contact with. The numbers go up that want to change the longer the sentence. Right now the numbers I have on my desk of those doing life that want to change, want to go to school, want to be tell of caution for those on the outside...is high those doing a few years, not interested at all. Too bad it takes getting a life sentence to motivate some to make some hard choices and put in the hard work needed to be successful.

— Name withheld June 24, 2014 at 3:42 p.m.

La teacher
I hear what you are saying but why now.why the awareness speech now? Flip the shoe.is it something you'd want to hear immediately after losing a child? Tho your point of view may be valid in its own right ,there is a time and place for everything..we are grieving for a young girl that was so much more than just a statistic. You didn't see that side of her and we didn't see the side that you are so compassionately describing....pregnant teen girls has nothing to do with the matter at hand....how do you know if she was aware or not that she was in the company of a gun carrier....either way...she was taken from our family way to soon and we will do our best to keep our thoughts positive.when comes to jacinta..respectfully tanisha s.

— tanisha June 24, 2014 at 2 p.m.

Yes it was necessary. Many teachers and administrators took many actions to try to help her but she was not responsive for whatever reasons.

I have compassion which is why I wrote what I did. In the vast majority of communities, girls would not be in a car with an armed male. That is something the community must reflect upon.

I encourage and encourage but most of the students don't take opportunities that are put in front of them. The question of course is why? Why is simply living 12 miles away in another working class neighborhood- why does that make your life chances greater than in South LA? Why does the LAUSD school I am teaching summer school at - why do they offer more opportunities and why do the kids there seem motivated to go to college and use their off time to become involved in internships and other activities but our student's don't? They have the same teachers.

There are a plethora of community groups in South LA like Community Coalition and Families in Schools that purport to care about the kids here yet I have never once seen them on our campus. I have heard them bash teachers and schools. But I have never seen them do anything concrete to help students. The bottom line is that it is the family structure that must support education. I told Jacinta every day she showed to school- which was rarely- what her potential was. She didn't respond. And another thing- I have a significant number of students male and female who already have children. Why? Planned Parenthood gives free birth control. At what point does personal responsibility come into play?
And again, I pose the question: Why have 5 of my students in the last 10 years been shot to death? How could this have been avoided?

— LA Teacher June 24, 2014 at 8:53 a.m.

I didn't see that side of Jacinta. She rarely came to class and when she did she was angry. She was several years behind in her academic skills but had excellent critical thinking skills. When she did participate she always had something thoughtful to say.
Even though Jacinta has passed, I think this is a time for some critical self-reflection in the South LA community. Why was she in a car with someone who was armed? I think it is important for the residents to get the perspective of the teachers and other staff that work with the community's students.

It is tragic that her potential went unrealized but the seeds of this were sown long ago. Her classes to be a "nurse" were most likely a low paid position like LPN rather than a Registered Nurse which pays a middle class wage. Teachers can't help kids reach higher without the help of the family. Jacinta did have the potential to be a Registered Nurse, and not settle for LPN.

Too many kids in South LA settle. Like the one who told me proudly he got is security guard card. I told him while reaching that goal is admirable, his goals weren't high enough. I'm teaching summer school a mere 12 miles away and every working class kid in that class has ambitions far beyond security guard and LPN. So what is going on in South LA? And why are my students hanging out with gangsters and getting shot in cars? That's all I want to know.

— LA Teacher June 22, 2014 at 7:53 a.m.