Kirk Devon Traylor, 53

Dec. 11, 2015

Kirk Devon Traylor, a 53-year-old black man, died after he was hit by gunfire Friday, Dec. 4, in the 900 block of West 134th Place in Compton, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Traylor, who lived in Los Angeles, was standing outside a home about 8:45 p.m. when two men approached him and started a conversation, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Jauch.

One of the men pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking Traylor in the upper body, Jauch said. The two men then ran away, heading west on 134th Place.

Traylor was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:52 p.m., according to coroner's records.

There is no further information about the suspects, Jauch said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

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Nine reader comments

OK, enough is enough. When will the useless LAPD quit gunning down married fathers and start cracking down on these utterly senseless and random homicides??!!

What gets me is if this occurred in a white neighborhood, it would be on the news and police would not stop investigating until they find the killer or killers. And if they were to stop, the white neighbors wouldn't have any of their lax attitudes and would keep them searching.

When an innocent man gets gunned down in a mostly Latino or black neighborhood, it's as if it's just another expected occurrence and no further resources are put into ending this madness. It is not just on the side of the police, the residents also seem to just wallow in their fear and misery and resort to complacency.

I don't know about you, but I see a clear pattern here where if it were to happen in some white neighborhood, it would be called the work of a serial killer. So many men randomly shot after some dude with a hood walks up to them. For no reason at all. This has been happening for so long now and nothing has ever been done. Why don't the police treat this the same way they'd treat a serial killer on the loose?

I am just so incredibly infuriated that these things keep happening to innocent men in our black and Latino neighborhoods. Too many accounts of men minding their own business and are then shot to death for what? For nothing!

Why won't someone do something??? This can't continue. We can't live like this in total fear of getting shot over absolutely NOTHING.

— Mike Dec. 20, 2015 at 6:16 a.m.