Times coverage: When the shooter may not be the killer

Sept. 2, 2010, 9:36 a.m.

Michael Byoune, a 19-year-old black man, was shot and killed by Inglewood police in the 3000 block of Manchester Boulevard about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, May 11. An article Thursday by Times reporters Victoria Kim and Jack Leonard looks at an interesting twist in the murder prosecution.

There's no dispute over who fired the shots that instantly killed 19-year-old Michael Byoune.

The question is, who is to blame.

It was 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday in May 2008. Byoune and a few friends were at a Rally's hamburger stand, talking to some girls, when gunshots rang out nearby. Terrified, the teenagers jumped into their dark gray Honda and tried to flee.

In the frantic few minutes that followed, two Inglewood police officers, believing the teens were shooting at them, fired 29 rounds into the Honda. Byoune, shot five times, died at the scene. A second 19-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

Authorities now say that Byoune and his friends were innocent, unarmed victims and that police should not have shot at them. The real culprit, authorities say, was Tramond Winzer, an alleged Crip gang member who fired off a series of shots with a handgun, seeking to hit rival gang members at Rally's.

Even though police bullets killed Byoune, Winzer is the one authorities want to hold legally responsible for his death.

Prosecutors earlier this year determined that the two officers who shot Byoune reasonably acted in self-defense even though they were mistaken about who posed the threat.

Next month, Winzer, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, is expected to stand trial for Byoune's murder under a legal theory known as the "provocative act murder" doctrine. Under that theory, Winzer would be responsible if he fired the initial shots that led to Byoune's slaying by police.

One legal expert predicted that the application of the provocative act doctrine would be heatedly contested in court, and a civil attorney for Byoune's family called Winzer's prosecution scapegoating.

If it hadn't been for a botched food order, Byoune and his friends would not have been at the hamburger stand at the time of the shooting, according to law enforcement records.

Keep reading: When the shooter may not be the killer

Photo: People stand near a memorial to shooting victim Michael Byoune in a Crenshaw Boulevard parking lot. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times / May 12, 2008)

33 reader comments

No need to address anyone but the Inglewood Police on this one....I believe that you guys are missing the big picture...It's not whether this is a good or bad neighborhood, or whether the victim was the one shooting, the problem that I have with this is that the police stereotyped the victims...YOu hear gunshots then you see a BLACK MAN running to get in a car....You never see a weapon in his hand nor do the sparks from the gun you heard come from their car...REMEMBER THIS IN TRAINING????...however you assumed the gunfire was coming from that car and you recklessly(YES RECKLESSLY) fire 29 rounds into the vehicle...THat's murder with intent whether you believe it came from them or not...I have family members in law enforcement(SHERRIFF'S) and I was once in the probation field and most of the people that you come in contact with that continue to work these overnight and latenight shifts are those hotheads that are looking to take someone out...THink about this, if you shoot or kill someone on duty and it's justifiable then you are sent to see a psych with pay and a few weeks off of work....This young INNOCENT man can never go to work again and we as TAXPAYERS will foot the bill on both ends(THROUGH WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUITS AND PROVIDING THE SUSPECT SHELTER FOR THE NEXT 50YEARS)...in the end the police are back on patrol and killing again...THey should be hald accountable as well as the city of Inglewood and they should never be given a weapon to carry again in life...the policies need to change and officers should be placed as third parties in these civil lawsuits...

— FOol March 7, 2012 at 12:56 p.m.

Inglewood police has accused Malone University football and honor student Tramond Winzer, as being an alleged gang member in a murder that police committed and also admitted to. Police have admitted to the murder but is saying that Tramond is the one who provoked them to kill this young man. For the last three years Tramond has remained in custody while the police and media have released articles slandering his character. While doing so they have failed to mention the person who he truly is. They never once stated that Tramond was on a full academic scholarship at a Christian College in Canton, Ohio with a 3.5 GPA or that he was fully involved in his school playing sports such as track, football and also in participating theater. While incarcerated family has received letters from teacher, coaches, teammates and friends describing his true character and the positive impact that he had on their lives.

It is a shame that an innocent young man life has to be gambled with just so officers can cover up their dirty work. When will enough be enough? When will communities stand up for what is right and fight for young men such as Tramond who was only attending school to better himself and those around him? Help us cause awareness to police corruption. Is the Justice system really fair? This same issue goes on every day and all the time. But nobody ever has enough courage to stand up and exercise their rights. As U.S. citizen we have the right to argue and fight these accusations. As communities we need to come together when disorder like this occurs. Don’t just ignore it and sweep it under because this could happen to anyone. We are asking for your help in proving Tramond’s innocence. They need to know the true person that he really is and that what has been said about him is nothing but pure deceit.

This smart, caring and loving young man deserves to be out in the world continuing only where he left off, which was finishing school and becoming a prospective role model to society. We only have once chance to prove his innocence and set him free. People need to know nothing but the truth and only the truth. We are asking the communities to join in a March against wrongfully accused because they are the true victims.

— Tracy Winzer May 21, 2011 at 7:07 p.m.

the fact that 29 rounds were fired by the officers makes them culpable in a very real sense. do not downplay this type of behavior. the kind of misguided force that they engaged in was unnecessary, PERIOD!! this shooting to kill mentality should not be a guessing game that is played with real lives. please don't say they felt threatened to that point and give them a pass on their criminal behavior. this shoot to kill tactic is being used around the country by too many officers, implying that they have joined the ranks of thugs who are to be equally feared, particularly because their badge gives them limitless authority and protection along with the code of silence dishonesty that permeates the force and undermines individual decency!

— btw citizen Sept. 7, 2010 at 11:47 a.m.

— Sheba, so the neighborhood is populated by whites and asians?

Do you ever look at the homicide map and the statistics that go with it?

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that 1:30 in the morning, that's when the gangsters are out and about looking for people to kill.

If you're in this neighborhood at that time of the night and you're being shot at, I don't think you're going to be on the lookout for old asian woman gangsters.

One day you will accept a basic truth .... its latinos and blacks that make up the huge majority of homicides. And it occurs in the neighborhoods where black and/or latinos are the dominate racial/ethnic population group.

Once again I am accused of this and that, but no proof ever comes out.

BTW, as I have stated on numerous posts over the past few years (even before you started reading this blog); I think all people deserve good economic prospects, good schools and quiet neighborhoods.

— syscom3 Sept. 6, 2010 at 9:35 a.m.

I agree with charging a robber for murder is his friend is shot by a store owner. In this case, that was a gang shooting. The cops used racist and pointless jugdement to shoot people they didn't witness shooting, to add insult to injury the shots weren't even being shot at in the cops direction. Double mistake, and shooting almost 30 rounds with no one shooting at you is plain simple murder. Can't ad charges to the gangster shooting over some paranoid cops propably drunk or high on coke. Sad... really, those kids simply left. And those cops shot 29 times. Wow, this is a repeated outcry. The cops are notorious for protecting their own. History shows it. The judge, D.A. and police are different sides to the same coin. Prosecute those cops to the fullest extent of the law like the bart shooter, both of them. Can't blame gangs for badly trained cops. Charging the kid with murder is completely deviating from those cops breaking every policy and sheer lack or training. Why they shoot, who knows. But they were beyond wrong and guilty. It would be like me shooting at a cop 29 times cause i heard shots coming in that direction.... killed one and injured one, give me a break i would go to JAIL for LIFE or get the death sentence! These cops get a tap in the back and free ticket!!!!! Pathetic excuse of a murder out of sheer racism and lack of training. Black teens speeding = guilty shooters. Send those cops to jail for life! Any other citizen would be charged that way. Riots are imminent. This is abuse of power and prtecting their own, we are all one. Do what's right.

— Montana Gold- Sept. 5, 2010 at 4:45 p.m.

This case really baffles me!, because our tax dollars don't pay for the Police to assume that someone did something, they could have tailed these guys away from the area, then stopped them, removed them from their car to see if they were a threat before going Wild, Wild West on them, and to find out that these kids were innocent, trying to get to safty for their lives is very hard to swallow, and I for one REALLY support the Police, because to me they are our soldiers in these dangerous streets fighting to keep us safe, and the force choose our Police Officers with a fine tooth comb, or at least that's what we're told, which should give us some of the best Police Officers on our streets, so mistakes like this should have NEVER happened PERIOD!, so even though they want to charge that low-life cowardly thug Mr. Winzer who started shooting in the first place, someone other than just him should be held responsible for these kids getting killed. What if it was a family with kids trying to get away to safty from gun fire?, what would they say then??

— Just Say'n Sept. 3, 2010 at 7:34 a.m.

In this case I will not try to defend the Inglewood officers' actions. They screwed up terribly and they know it. Most likely those two will never forgive themselves for what they have done. Everyone makes mistakes but when you have armed officers trained to stop threats using lethal force, a mistake becomes an irreversible tragedy. That's what we have here and this is what can happen when some gang banging idiot opens fire in a crowd. Confusion. Panic. People running. People screaming. And at that point anything can happen and most of it isn't good. My condolences to the victims and their families. By the way people, even if you have a legal right to be out there, hanging around a gang infested area at 2 in the morning on a Saturday night is pretty dangerous if that isn't obvious by now.

— Citizenjohn Sept. 3, 2010 at 6:24 a.m.

The Homicide Report

Times coverage: When the shooter may not be the killer

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